omg, someone explain to me how I was able to write over 5k words in three days. I think I got possessed or something, wtf.
This is definitely the longest chapter yet! You guys are in for a treat, I really had a lot of fun writing this! Though I am a bit afraid that it's a little rushed because of how long it is. :s If you guys think this chapter is rushed, I'm sorry! I'm trying to fit everything I need to before this story is over.
So, yes, this is the longest chapter because everything is finally explained! I hope everyone understands Natsu's actions now. Calling him all those names during previous chapters really upset me, honestly.
I guess it's because you guys didn't know all the details yet, but if you can forgive Lisanna, please forgive Natsu as well. :')
Wow, I am way too attached to these characters omfg. What has this story done to me.
You guys have finally survived the drama chapters. You all deserve stickers for making it this far.
This has nothing to do with anything, but I have English for my last class of the day, and we're currently reviewing all these tone words and stuff. Of course, being the lame person I am, my ideas for this story are literally going everywhere in class. It's great to have all the ideas fresh in my mind after school. B)
If you ever wondered what my seventh period class is, well, there ya go!
Okay, I'm going to let you guys go now, haha. Only two (or three, depending if you guys want an epilogue) chapters left! Are you ready? I'm not.
Please, review and tell me your thoughts on this chapter! Thank you so so much for reading. ~
All Lucy wanted to do was disappear into thin air while Levy rapidly knocked on Lisanna's front door. Her palms were damper than ever, despite not understanding why she was feeling so apprehensive.
She had never been to Lisanna's house before—it was just as impressive as her beach house. The cloudy sky made the house seem incredibly lonely. It was clearly more than enough space for the three Strauss siblings to live in.
Lucy couldn't remember how to breathe once the door began to slowly open.
"Come on in, guys," Lisanna smiled somberly at them, stepping to the side so they could enter. "Sorry for making you come here out of nowhere."
"It's okay!" Levy assured energetically. "Lu-chan and I weren't doing anything, anyway."
"Do you two want something to eat?" Lisanna offered as she led them through the vacant home and into the dining room. All the lights were switched off so they were flipped on as they went.
"We already ate," Lucy replied.
"Then I'll get some water, instead," Lisanna compromised, going off into the kitchen.
Lucy followed Levy's strained movements, sitting down at the large table side by side. When Lisanna returned with the water, she wordlessly sat across from them, fidgeting in her seat.
An awkward silence soon floated between the girls. Lucy's mouth became dry after observing Lisanna's features. The rims of her eyes were swollen; her bottom lip was still subtly quivering.
"Are you okay?" Lucy asked immediately. She couldn't bear to see Lisanna like this any longer.
"I've been better," she admitted, laughing weakly. "Rain always makes me so depressed."
"Good thing it's starting to lighten up," Levy said in attempt to brighten the mood, but all Lisanna did was nod slightly.
"So the reason why I called you two here was because I want you to be the first ones to know about this," she explained anxiously, not bothering to beat around the bush.
"Know about what?" Lucy swallowed thickly, certain she wasn't prepared for what Lisanna was going to say.
"I broke up with Natsu today," Lisanna revealed bluntly.
Lucy and Levy weren't able to hold back their gasps—nor were they able to close their collapsed jaws.
"W-Why?!" Levy exclaimed once she composed herself. "You two were doing so well!"
"We weren't," Lisanna opposed, shaking her head. "I don't think anyone noticed, but Natsu and I didn't act any different than we did when we were friends. There was hardly a difference."
"You liked each other, didn't you?" Lucy countered hesitantly. "Wasn't that enough?"
"I don't even think Natsu liked me," Lisanna gave out another dry laugh. She fiddled with the centerpiece in front of them, avoiding their gaze. "When I confessed to him during the campfire, I wasn't too good about it."
"What do you mean?" Levy inquired.
"I made him feel trapped," Lisanna answered with an uneven voice. "I really didn't want him to say no, so I didn't give him a reason to."
Lucy opened her mouth to say something, yet Lisanna continued. It all came out at once, endlessly flowing out of her until she was finished.
"I really like Natsu, you know? I just didn't want to know what it felt like to be rejected.
"I was only thinking about myself while confessing to him. I pretended to act like I was going through more problems than usual, even though the majority of them didn't even exist. I know Natsu isn't very experienced with relationships, so I selfishly took advantage of him because of that."
"Lisanna—"
"It's my fault for being selfish," she interrupted Levy. "I deserve this."
"You don't," Lucy denied it with a shake of her head. "You don't deserve to be heartbroken like this."
"Are you sure?" Lisanna sent her an unconvinced look. "Because the way I see it, I took advantage of my best friend so I could be happy. It was selfish."
"But Natsu didn't look like he was being taken advantage of," Levy mentioned.
Lucy nodded in agreement, ignoring the throbbing pain in her chest. Even if Lisanna had taken advantage of him, it was no mistake that Natsu liked her. There was no possible way he didn't like her.
"Natsu didn't feel the same way as I felt," Lisanna asserted firmly.
"How are you so sure?" Lucy questioned with disbelief.
"That's the reason why we broke up," Lisanna replied simply, pulling her hands away from the centerpiece and resting them in her lap. "I broke up with him because he showed me that he didn't like me the same way I liked him."
"He showed you?" Levy echoed with a puzzled expression.
"I asked him a stupid question," Lisanna gave out a weary sigh. "It needed to be asked, but it was stupid. The answer to the question is the reason why I broke up with him."
Every part of Lucy wanted to ask what the question was, though she understood that Lisanna was being vague for a reason. Levy understood as well, so neither of them pressed on it.
"I tried so hard to make him happy for all these years," Lisanna spoke quietly, the trembling of her bottom lip returning. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't make Natsu happy."
"It's alright," Levy comforted gently. "Everything is going to be okay."
Lucy couldn't think of what to say as Levy tried her best to console Lisanna. She wanted to help comfort her, too, but it wouldn't be the sincere comfort Lisanna needed. Because at the end of the day, Lucy liked Natsu just as much as she did.
"So, Lucy, I want you to do me a favor," Lisanna turned to her after regaining her composure.
"M-Me?" Lucy stammered, her eyes widening. "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to give Natsu a chance," she stated softly.
"What?" Levy and Lucy inquired simultaneously.
"Natsu likes you, Lucy," Lisanna smiled faintly. "And because of that, I need you to give him a chance."
"Natsu doesn't like me," Lucy protested. "He likes you, I'm sure of it!"
"I've known Natsu for years," Lisanna responded with her voice gradually morphing into her own again. "I can tell by the way his eyes light up when he looks at you. He's head over heels for you!"
Lucy's heart pounded in her throat as she thought of what to say. "I'm sor—"
"Don't be sorry!" Lisanna didn't let her finish, waving her hands in front of her. "I understand that we can't control our feelings. So please, give Natsu a chance. I know he can be really messy sometimes, and he'll eat all your food during dinner, but he has some good points! I promise!"
Lucy glanced at Levy for half a second—was she able to say that she had liked Natsu all along?
"I'll give him a chance," she said finally, breaking the eye contact with Levy. "I'll give Natsu a chance for you."
"Thank you so much, Lucy!" Lisanna exclaimed with pure relief. "Who knows, maybe you'll start to like him, too?"
"Maybe," Lucy sent her a small smile. "Are you really sure Natsu likes me? Aren't you a little upset?"
"I'm not happy that we can't be together," she confessed, "but if he's happy with someone else, I know I'll be happy, too. And since it's you, I'm confident you'll be able to do what I can't."
"What if I can't?" Lucy blurted out.
"You can," Lisanna guaranteed. "And if you can't, then you have to keep trying!"
It took all of Lucy's strength to not rocket out of her chair and leap across the table to hug Lisanna with all her might. What stopped her was the reminder that although she was getting what she wanted—Lisanna wasn't.
However, Lisanna soon returned to her bubbly self just after an hour Lucy and Levy decided to stay at her house for a while longer. Once they went off to other topics, everything about Natsu was nonexistent. It was as if she hadn't just experienced a break up; she was content enough with having friends around her instead.
"I'll see you guys at school tomorrow!" Lisanna proclaimed, waving from the front door.
"See you!" Levy called out.
"Goodnight!" Lucy waved back.
As she shut the door and Lucy and Levy walked together to go back home, Levy didn't hesitate to tightly hug Lucy's arm.
"What are you going to do now?!" Levy raved. "Are you going to go home and tell Natsu your feelings?!"
"If I couldn't tell Lisanna, how could I tell Natsu?" Lucy laughed slightly at her enthusiasm.
"So what are you going to do?" Levy tilted her head.
"I'm going to give them some space," Lucy answered.
"Space," Levy repeated as if she didn't understand. Instantly, she sent her a frown. "Lu-chan, you sound like those girls in the books we read. Since when did you get this sort of patience?"
"I guess they're just rubbing off on me," Lucy grinned in response. "Don't tell anyone I like Natsu, okay? I want to wait until it's the right time for him to know."
"Okay, sure. But now that you know he likes you, how are you going to act around him?" Levy wiggled her brows at her.
Lucy's eyes became large as her mouth fell. "I haven't thought about that yet."
"Good luck with him!" Levy giggled nonstop when they reached the spot where they separated. "Tell me how it goes!"
"Levy-chan!" Lucy whined as she scampered away before she could get a hold of her. Despite the pout that formed on Lucy's lips, in the inside, she was jumping like a child.
Natsu liked her. He liked her.
She wasn't going to get enough of thinking that.
"You don't know he likes you," Lucy spoke under her breath while she returned home. "You're completely oblivious to his feelings. You don't know he likes you."
Lucy repeated those words over and over again until she had somewhat believed it. By the time it was drilled into her mind, she was unlocking the door to her apartment.
"Finally, you're here!" Natsu shouted, heaving himself up from the couch. "How was dinner?"
Lucy looked at Natsu for a few seconds, all of her thoughts blowing away in her mind in an instant. Now that she knew his feelings, how was she supposed to act? Normal was out of the question. With every step she took, she felt entirely self-conscious.
"I-It was fine," she stuttered out eventually. "Did you have dinner?"
"I bought some rice balls from the convenience store," he responded.
"How were they?" she questioned, smirking slightly. She knew how unappetizing rice balls from convenience stores could be.
"Horrible," he shivered. "I need you to make your rice balls as soon as possible so I can forget them."
"I'll make them tomorrow," she stifled a laugh. She was in the midst of going to her room, but she froze after remembering. Swiveling around, she faced him. "Did you forget what you needed to tell me?"
"Nope," he shook his head. "I still remember."
Lucy sent him a look, being able to hear the distant tone in his voice again. She caught a glimpse of his hands being shoved into his pockets.
"What is it?" she inquired cautiously.
Natsu took a deep breath as though he needed to prepare himself for what he was about to reveal. Anxiety pumped in Lucy's veins as she watched him.
"Lisanna broke up with me today," he stated.
Lucy expected to see the same type of melancholy Lisanna had flicker in his eyes. However, the only emotion that was inside of Natsu's hazel orbs wasn't anything like that.
He held tranquil eyes, like something had been lifted off his shoulders.
"I'm sorry she broke up with you," Lucy said, trying not to make it too obvious she felt obliged to.
"I saw it coming," he shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, anyway, that's all I felt like telling you."
"How do you feel about it?" Lucy asked, more softly than she expected to.
Natsu paused at the question. "I feel better," he replied.
Reminding herself that it wasn't any of her business what exactly went down, a light sigh escaped Lucy's lips.
"Thanks for telling me, I guess. Well, it's been a long day, so I'm going to bed," she began to turn around. "Good—"
"Wait, Luce," Natsu took a hold of her wrist, stopping her movements.
A gasp left Lucy's lips as she immediately felt her skin tingle at his touch. She never knew it was possible for butterflies to form in her stomach this fast.
"Y-Yes?" she squeaked at him, looking over her shoulder at him.
"I don't want to stop living with you," he spoke.
With a smile promptly forming on her lips, Lucy couldn't help but saying the first thing on her mind. "I don't want to stop living with you, either."
"Good," Natsu grinned. "You're not allowed to move out until I move out, alright?"
"Deal," she giggled. "Goodnight, Natsu."
"Night, Luce," he gently released her wrist. She knew she wasn't imagining the squeeze he gave her before letting go.
With her entire body tingling with joy, Lucy stepped inside her room and fell into her bed face first. If it weren't for Natsu being in the living room, she would have screamed her lungs out into her pillow.
Though since she couldn't make a noise, she smiled so wide into her pillow, her cheeks felt like they were on fire.
It really was hard to believe that Natsu felt the same way she felt.
Yet she wasn't going to completely believe it until she heard the words I like you come specifically by Natsu. Until then, she was going to continue to believe it was just her feeling this way. It was better for her heart to think this way, anyway.
Plugging her phone in to charge as she slipped into her pajamas, Lucy jumped once her phone started to vibrate nonstop.
"They called and texted me over five hundred times?!" she whispered frantically, her phone buzzing so much, it nearly leapt out of her hands.
It took about five minutes for her phone to become silent again. Lucy sighed, irritated that she had so many notifications from Gray and Natsu to dismiss. But simultaneously, she felt warm all over; Natsu had been worried about her.
"He might have overdone it just a bit," she laughed lightly to herself, scrolling past the large amount of missed calls.
Leaving the text messages for another day, she was just about to put her phone away until she noticed another notification different from the others—a voicemail.
Lucy raised the phone up to her ear while listening to the robotic voice announcing the voicemail. She held her breath when she realized it was Natsu.
"Hey, Luce, it's me..."
Her heart was beating a miles a minute as she hung off every word Natsu spoke. His voice was much deeper on the phone and it only made her heart race.
"I've been meaning to tell you this since the summer. I—"
Lucy looked at her phone with a bewildered expression, realizing that was the end of the voicemail. "He wasn't finished," she pouted at her screen.
On cue, thousands of thoughts entered her mind. All of them revolved around the same thing—what was it that he needed to tell her? It seemed as if Natsu had a lot of things to tell her lately. It was exciting.
Setting her phone on her desk, Lucy lay back down on her bed, staring at the ceiling. By how fast it took for her cold pillow to become warm, she knew her face was the same color as a tomato.
But with how she felt at that moment, resembling a tomato was the least of her worries.
Waking up the next morning, Lucy had to recheck her phone several times to make sure yesterday wasn't a dream. Not only had she finally cancelled her plane ticket; it was also confirmed that Natsu liked her.
Saying that over and over in her mind was never going to be enough.
"Morning," Natsu yawned, scratching his exposed stomach as he shuffled to the bathroom.
"Good morning. Are you ready for today?" Lucy asked from the kitchen with a smile.
"What's happening today?" he countered. For the first time, he didn't close the bathroom door while they talked. He poked his head out of the bathroom, brushing his teeth.
"The school festival is on Friday!" she reminded him incredulously. "Did you already forget that we're spending all this week planning for it?"
"Of course not," he gave an exaggerated scoff. "I would never forget something like that."
"I knew you wouldn't," she played along with him slyly. "How could you forget our bet?"
"Stop reminding me," he muttered, returning to the bathroom and closing the door.
Lucy pressed her lips together in a thin line as she waited for Natsu to get ready for school. Despite the morning air being colder than usual, she had her cheeks to warm her up on their walk. The occasional grazes of skin their arms shared helped, too.
It wasn't until she entered the classroom with Natsu when reality hit. Glancing at Lisanna, Lucy braced herself for the tension that was bound to surface between Natsu, Lisanna, and her.
But luckily, the presidents of the student council were here to save the day.
"Alright, class, what do you want to do for the festival this Friday?" Erza demanded at the front of the classroom, not wasting a second to start planning.
"A haunted house!" a student called out.
"A party room!" another suggested.
Lucy listened to the suggestions as they were called out one by one. She was only thinking in girls' outfits—she straightened up in her seat once she received an idea.
"How about a restaurant?" she raised her voice so she was able to be heard from in the back.
"What kind of restaurant?" Jellal quirked a brow, considering her suggestion.
"One that looks like Fairy Tail," she proposed.
"Setting up our classroom to look like Fairy Tail won't be a problem, but how will we get our food?" Erza inquired.
"I can help with that," Lisanna lifted a hand into the air. "Since I work there, I can get Fairy Tail to cater for us."
"Will we be able to get the strawberry cake?" Erza questioned.
"Of course," Lisanna nodded.
"Then it's settled," Erza announced with no hesitation. "Our class will become Fairy Tail during the school festival. Any objections?"
With the intense eyes Erza lasered at everyone, it was nearly impossible to even think about objecting. Acting as though her hand was a gavel, she hit the podium to confirm the idea.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Natsu whined, leaning on Lucy's desk with an arm.
"Did what?" she grinned with her best oblivious voice. If she lowered her head an inch, her forehead may as well be touching Natsu's.
"You know how the girl uniforms look for Fairy Tail!" he accused.
"Who said we were using our original uniforms?" she retorted.
Natsu gulped as he realized that he may have to end up wearing something ten times more ridiculous than he expected.
"I can't believe this," he groaned, pulling away and placing his head inside of his arms on his desk.
Lucy put a hand over her mouth to suppress her laughs. She turned to the person who she felt coming up to her desk.
"Erza gave me a list of some uniforms the waitresses can wear during the festival," Lisanna stated, sliding her a piece of paper with several different uniforms.
"Already?" Lucy questioned with surprise. "Okay, let me check."
"I really like the maid one," Lisanna admitted while pointing to one of the outfits on the paper.
If Lucy didn't have as much power as she did in her hands, she would have instantly refused the idea of wearing a maid outfit. Sure, it would bring in more people to their class, but with how short the outfit was, she was going to feel embarrassed wearing something like this.
But since Natsu was also going to be wearing the same thing as the girls, there was no way she was going to miss this opportunity.
"Don't pick the maid outfit, Luce!" Natsu shouted seconds before she made the decision. "Lisanna, don't let her pick the maid outfit."
There was a flicker in Lisanna's eyes as Natsu spoke to her; she shifted her eyes back to Lucy before he could notice.
"Pick whatever you want, Lucy," Lisanna responded.
Lucy's eyes flicked at Natsu and Lisanna a few times. They were obviously trying their best to not make everything awkward; nonetheless, Lucy could feel it. It was a faint awkwardness, but it was there.
"I'm picking the maid outfit," she declared.
"I'll go tell Erza now, then," Lisanna answered as she returned to the front of the classroom.
"I'm never coming to school again," Natsu groaned again with his head hitting his desk with a loud thud.
"This is going to be so fun," Cana snickered a couple of rows in front of them. "Thanks for winning that bet, Lucy."
"No problem," Lucy replied proudly. "It's going to be loads of fun, I'm sure!"
Loads of fun was definitely an understatement.
Once Erza and Jellal had miraculously arranged everything for the class in one single day, everyone began to do their own small planning on the festival. They were only allowed two days to set up for their classroom, and Class S were going to make those two days count.
Lucy forgot what it was like to laugh all day long as she, Levy, Lisanna, Juvia, and Cana all planned for what they were going to do on Friday. They were anticipating the festival more than they had ever anticipated something before.
"What are all of you going to be doing during the festival?" Gray went up to the girls' table with Natsu and Gajeel trailing behind him.
"We're going to be the waitresses!" Juvia exclaimed happily. "What are the boys going to be doing?"
"Don't forget about Natsu. He's going to be a waitress, too," Gajeel sneered.
"Shut up," Natsu grumbled.
"Boys are going to help out in the back with all the food," Jellal joined the conversation with two clipboards in his hand. "Would you guys mind signing up for what time you'll be working?"
"This actually feels like I'm working at Fairy Tail all over again," Cana shuddered while writing down her time.
"You can't get any weird extra tips this time," Gray warned her.
Cana lifted a brow to retort something back, but after taking a look at Jellal's stern gaze, she kept silent.
Receiving one of the clipboards, Lucy scanned through the times to see when she would like to work. She decided to settle with the time she used to actually work at, although this time wasn't nearly as long as it was during the summer.
She couldn't stop her eyes from wandering onto Natsu once he had a clipboard. What if they picked the same time? If they picked the same time, they'd also have the same time off. They could go through the hallways together, and—
"What are you looking at?" Natsu smirked at her, interrupting her thoughts.
"Nothing!" Lucy blurted out as she averted her gaze. She didn't realize she hadn't taken her eyes off of him.
"Alright, thanks, guys. Be ready to set up tomorrow," Jellal told them all before walking away to get more times scheduled.
"Juvia is ready to work!" she declared.
"Can I skip the work and just go to the festival?" Cana sighed lazily.
The group shook their heads at their unproductive friend; Gajeel was the only one to switch from shaking and nodding his head.
Before Lucy even knew it, it was already Wednesday afternoon and she was walking with Levy to go to the vending machines. They were going to be setting up all evening—the healthy bag of chips were going to be their dinner.
"Haven't you noticed that Lisanna and Natsu are acting normal with each other?" Levy questioned as they strolled through the hallways.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Lucy remarked.
"Of course!" Levy responded. "But I didn't expect them to act that normal. It's like they were never together in the first place.
"Lisanna mentioned something like that," Lucy pointed out. "I guess it's the only thing they can do, right?"
"True," Levy hummed. "So? How are you and Natsu?!"
Lucy ignored Levy while she bounced on the tips of her toes for her response.
"We haven't done anything," she replied simply.
"Seriously?" Levy gaped at her. "Why not?"
"Because we don't need to do anything," Lucy shrugged. "We're both busy with the festival, anyway. We haven't really talked much lately."
"Yeah, that makes sense," Levy nodded, sipping on her juice box. She began to cough once she thought of something. "What if Natsu confesses to you during the festival?! That would be so romantic!"
Lucy listened to Levy's fantasies with amusement. They all sounded very romantic, and that was exactly why she couldn't imagine Natsu doing it. He wasn't that type of person. At least she didn't think so, anyway.
Lucy and Levy soon returned to the classroom, noticing the determined look on everyone's faces. They were surely ready to transform the classroom to the spitting image of Fairy Tail.
Barking out orders to everyone, Erza didn't even pause to breathe as she called out who was being paired with who.
"Cana and Levy, you'll be creating the wall decorations!"
"Lisanna and I will be making the centerpieces for each table!"
"Gray and Natsu, you'll be outside!"
"I have to work with him?!" Gray and Natsu yelled out with bewilderment, shoving a finger in each other's faces.
"Is that a problem?" Erza tilted her head with a raised brow.
"We're on it!" the two yelped while sprinting out of the classroom.
"Juvia and Lucy, you'll be outside as well, painting the Fairy Tail logo!" Erza continued.
Lucy and Juvia turned to one another, smiles spreading across their lips in seconds.
"Let's go!" Lucy pulled her along with her once they had collected all the materials to paint the logo.
"Juvia isn't good at painting," she stated as a precaution.
"It's okay," Lucy assured. "We can just paint over it if we mess up."
Juvia nodded in understanding after they picked a spot where they weren't able to feel the frequent chilly gusts of air that blew past the school.
"It's a good thing Natsu isn't affected by cold weather," Lucy thought to herself.
"It's a good thing Gray isn't affected by cold weather," Juvia spoke in relief.
Lucy's eyes widened. "Gray doesn't get cold?"
"Never!" Juvia proclaimed with the same shock as Lucy's. "Gray explained to Juvia that he became immune to cold weather when he was younger."
"That's so weird," Lucy giggled, noticing Juvia's bright aura. "How are you and Gray, by the way?"
"Juvia is getting there," she replied. "Juvia is really happy Lucy's dad is okay again!"
Lucy paused, blinking at Juvia several times. "How did you know that?"
"Oh, no," she immediately gasped at her mistake. "Juvia is sorry! Gray told Juvia to not let you know that Juvia knew about the situation!"
"It's okay," Lucy guaranteed, calming down her frantic friend. "Did Gray tell you everything?"
"Gray was really afraid when you left," Juvia admitted. "He couldn't even eat his dinner."
Lucy couldn't hold back her wince. "I'm sorry for ruining your time together. I didn't mean for that to happen at all."
"Don't apologize," Juvia shook her head. "Friends are supposed to worry for each other, right? And also, it gave Juvia a chance to comfort Gray! Juvia was able to pat his shoulder so many times! Juvia can still feel his strong and muscular shoulder."
Lucy burst out into a fit of giggles until tears formed in her eyes. "I'm really happy you two are so close together now!"
"Thank you for supporting me since the beginning, Lucy," Juvia responded gratefully.
"I would have always," Lucy stated with a grin. "Okay, let's keep painting!"
Knowing that Erza wouldn't hesitate to send them back if the logo wasn't absolutely flawless, Lucy and Juvia painted the best Fairy Tail logo they would ever be able to do. Once they were almost finished, two and half hours had passed.
And in those two and half hours, the girls talked with no breaks. And when there weren't any breaks, there weren't any filters either.
Lucy ended up learning that the hard way after she accidentally told Juvia she liked Natsu.
"No way!" Juvia breathed in sharply at the news. "Does Natsu like Lucy back?!"
"According to Gray and Lisanna, yes," Lucy answered sheepishly. "He hasn't told me anything, though."
"Lucy needs to test this out as soon as possible!" Juvia proclaimed. "Go find Natsu, hide, and text him that you're on break."
"No, Juvia, it's fine—"
"Come on, Lucy," Juvia pleaded.
"But I'm not even on break," Lucy insisted.
"We're almost done, anyway," Juvia reassured. "Go and tell Juvia how it goes!"
Lucy bit her lip as Juvia nearly shooed her away to go and find Natsu. Since when did Juvia become so similar to Levy? They were surely rubbing off on each other.
It wasn't hard to find Natsu since he was outside as well. What gave it away the most was his voice which echoed throughout the entire school as he and Gray bickered to no end.
Finding a convenient tree to hide behind, Lucy couldn't believe what she was doing as she awkwardly texted Natsu that she was on break. Though somewhere deep inside of her, she had always wanted to do something like this. She didn't breathe while she pressed the send button and waited for Natsu to read it.
He was obviously too distracted by Gray to check his phone; Lucy knew it would take some time for him to look at her message. However, less than a minute after she'd sent the message, Natsu was digging his phone out of his pocket to read it.
"What are you doing, Flame-brain? Stop texting and help me," Gray commanded.
"Sorry, I'm going on break," Natsu blurted out.
"You're what?" Gray inquired.
"I mean, I'm going to the bathroom!" Natsu called out as he was already on his way inside to the classroom.
Lucy bit the inside of cheek to keep herself from laughing out loud. Natsu hadn't even texted her back—he was running without having any idea where she was.
Mentally apologizing to Gray whom was still incredibly dumbfounded by everything, Lucy went off to find Natsu. She quickly sent a text to Juvia telling her that Gray was coincidentally on break, too.
Lucy was able to hear Natsu's rapid footsteps in the hallway, so she tried her best to act natural beside the water fountains.
"Were you running?" she questioned with a laugh when he noticed her.
"Erza saw me messing with Gray, so I ran away before she could catch me," Natsu shrugged, catching up with his breaths.
Lucy grinned, finding it extremely amusing that he didn't want to admit what really happened.
"How excited are you for the festival on a scale of one to ten?" she asked.
"One," he answered. "I really don't want to wear that maid outfit, Luce."
"That's too bad," she smirked. "Next time, try to win the bet, okay?"
"I promise I will," he mumbled. "Also, we have to go to at least one classroom together during the festival."
"Why?" she tilted her head.
"Why not?" he sent her his own smirk this time.
"Okay, sure," Lucy accepted his offer with a warm chest. Was it just her feeling this way?
"We should probably go back before someone finds us here," Natsu spoke while stepping away.
"Natsu, isn't your station over there?" Lucy pointed the opposite direction.
"But your station is this way, right?" he countered. She nodded slowly, realizing what he was wanting to do.
"Let's go," he nodded his head to the side, beckoning her to follow him.
Lucy couldn't hold back the urge to tease him even more about what he was going to wear during the festival as he walked her back to her station. The smile she sent him never faded away.
Natsu rolled his eyes in response, letting her tease him to her heart's content. But when she wasn't looking, he was smiling at her, too.
Lucy was definitely not the only one feeling this way.