"So are you going to just sit there or are you going to talk?"
They had wandered over to a nearby cafe on campus, and Lucy was feeling slightly uncomfortable about the whole situation. She had no idea what he was going to say, because really, what was there to say?
Eyes downcast, and looking as equally uncomfortable as Lucy, Natsu fidgeted in his seat. "Well, I just..." he trailed off, groaning and running a hand down his face in slight frustration. He finally lifted his eyes, meeting hers in a determined stare.
"I'm sorry."
Completely taken by surprise, Lucy blinked a few times, trying to figure out what he meant.
"What?"
Natsu sighed. "I'm sorry for being such an asshole to you in middle school." Ohh, that makes sense. After a slight pause, he added "and for jumping at you in the library the other day." Were her eyes playing a trick on her or was he blushing?
She couldn't help it, but she started to laugh. This was just ridiculous, and she told him as much.
"What do you mean, ridiculous?" He narrowed his eyes at her and crossed his arms, slightly offended. He didn't go through all of this just to be laughed at.
"Natsu, middle school was years ago. I've moved passed it. Unless you're the same arrogant little prick you were back then I really don't care. Thank you for apologizing, that was very nice of you, but you didn't have too. Well," she grinned, "I guess apologizing for that hug was a good idea. That was embarrassing." She continued to laugh, because honestly she could not believe what was happening right now.
"Ha, yeah, I got a little excited I guess. I had an assignment due and my cat ruined my computer." He scratched his head with a grin on his face and Lucy couldn't help but admire him. His smile was just so... beautiful.
No, stop it Lucy.
"Well I figured I should apologize for middle school anyways, I never did before." He continued on with a small smile still on his face. "And I might still be arrogant at some times but I'm not the same as I was, trust me."
And Lucy believed him, she really did.
"Hey Juvia, where are you guys?" It had been a few weeks since Lucy and Natsu talked in that cafe, and now they were actually pretty good friends, with a little help from Gray and Juvia.
"Juvia and Gray won't be able to make it unfortunately. Gray is sick so Juvia is taking care of him." The four friends were supposed to go to see a movie tonight, and after the couple was five minutes late leaving Lucy alone with Natsu she decided to give her a call.
She sighed, but understood. There was no way Juvia would ever let Gray be by himself if he were sick. "Alright, that's okay. Tell him I hope he feels better soon!"
Hanging up, she turned toward Natsu who was already half way done his popcorn. "Apparently Gray is sick so they aren't coming."
Pausing in his demolition of his popcorn, Natsu looked at her, confused. "I saw him earlier today and he was fine." Natsu had came to the theatre by himself after he was finished with his chemistry lab.
Realization dawned upon Lucy and she groaned, resting her head on her hand. "Of course." As much as Lucy loved Juvia, she couldn't help but get annoyed at her tendencies to get her together with Natsu, and Gray never tried to stop her. Lucy was not and never will be Juvia's 'love rival', and she wished she could see that.
"What? You know something I don't?"
"She's trying to set us up." As smart as Natsu could be, he never really caught on to Juvia's match making attempts.
"Oh."
Oh?That was all he had to say on the matter? Usually she never outright said what was going on, because she didn't want to make things weird (because honestly she often thought about them as a couple but she would never, ever, admit to that). But she always assumed he understood.
"Oh?" she countered, raising a skeptical eyebrow at him.
He shrugged, going back to eating his popcorn while the previews came on. "Nothin'."
"Natsu."
"Lucy."
He was going to give her a headache.
"Whatever." she really didn't feel like dealing with him right now.
Lucy smiled as they walked out of the theatre, watching Natsu laugh his head off remembering some silly antics the characters did. He's so easily amused.
She enjoyed watching him, he was always so full of life, and it was rare to find him without a smile on his face.
"Quite starin'."
Blushing at being caught, she quickly turned her head away and continued walking to the exit. "I wasn't staring idiot."
"Sure you weren't." She sent him a glare over her shoulder. "Wouldn't be the first time either."
Her blush deepened, and she quickened her pace. "I never stare at you."
He was suddenly right beside her, and she silently cursed his long legs. "Course you do, because you're a weirdo." Rolling her eyes at the nickname, because now it was used as a term of some sort of endearment rather than a jeer, she shoved him lightly with her side.
After exiting the building, they started to make their way over to Natsu's car. "Why would I even want to stare at you?"
He place a hand against his heart in mock hurt, being overly dramatic. "But Lucy, I thought you loved me!"
And for some reason, Lucy couldn't look him in the eyes when she denied it.
"Juvia, no."
"Lucy! Please!"
Once again, Juvia was trying her usual routine of trying to set her up with Natsu, but this time she decided to go the direct route.
"Juvia, I never have, and never will like Natsu as more than a friend." Which, she unconsciously thought, was a terrible lie. She didn't even want to admit it to herself, because if she ever actually tried to go past their level of friendship, she didn't want to ruin what they had.
Grumbling, Juvia crossed her arms and glared at Lucy for a few minutes before she finally got up and left, she was meeting Gray for a lunch date.
"Ughh," she groaned, laying her head down on the table in front of her, banging it slightly. They were having such a nice lunch at Fairy Tail, until Juvia had to go and ruin it. She just wished she would stop thinking of her as her love rival.
"Are you okay?" A soft voice asked from behind her.
She turned her head to the side, and slowly lifted it, looking to the owner of the voice. It was one of the waitresses that Lucy saw here quite often. "Yeah, I'm fine." Giving her best smile to try to make her statement more accurate, it turned into a frown when she saw the knowing look on her face. "Alright, no, I'm not." Once again she dropped her head onto the table in frustration.
The waitress sat down across from her, taking Juvia's previously occupied seat. "Do you want to talk about it? I'm Mirajane, by the way, but you can just call me Mira."
The fact that Mira seemed so friendly and was willing to listen to her problems as an outsider with no knowledge of the situation prompted Lucy to spill her guts about the scenario. How she hated Natsu when she was younger, how they reconciled after many years. She told her about Juvia and her attempts at matchmaking and her crazy idea that she was her love rival. She told her how she didn't want to think about Natsu like that, but sometimes she couldn't help it, and she was afraid she was falling for him.
At this point, so wrapped up in her story, she didn't notice the mischievous look that appeared on Mira's face.
"And, yeah, that's about it." She finished, letting out a long breath, feeling lighter than she had. "Thank you for listening to me. I appreciate it." And she really did.
"Anytime Lucy!" Mira smiled at her, and seemed to think about something for a while. "I think I know who you're talking about, Natsu Dragneel, is it?"
Oh no.
"Uh, yeah actually, how did you know that?" This couldn't be good.
"He and my sister Lisanna were childhood friends. They used to play house all the time." she giggled with a fond look on her face. "They were so cute!"
Lucy couldn't help but giggle at this, since it was hard to imagine Natsu playing house. It was kind of adorable when she thought about it.
"I always thought that they would get together one day." Lucy shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "But they weren't meant to be it seems, Lisanna is now perfectly happy with her boyfriend, Bickslow."
This time, Lucy did see the mischievous look on her face, and she regretted talking to the waitress.
Looks can be deceiving, she decided.
Hope you guys enjoyed this part :) There's going to be about one or two more chapters after this then finis!
~567random