Well this one was fun to write. I don't know why I enjoyed making Natsu fuss at Gajeel so much, but I did. lol It would be so cute! Anyway, thanks so much for your reviews and follows and faves. You guys are the epic best!

GaLu Week: Day 7 - Secrets (Part 5)

Hiro Mashima owns Fairy Tail.

CONFUSING HER HEART

Natsu was pissed...no beyond pissed. He was furious. He could feel that deep well of fire simmering inside, his magic beginning to spark around him as he stared at Gajeel. The moron had completely wrecked things with Lucy, and now it wasn't just his ass on the line. Natsu's friendship with the blonde was also now hanging by a thread, and that was completely unacceptable.

He let out a low growl and pointed at the guilty-looking man. "Outside..."

Natsu walked out the back door without looking back. If Gajeel knew what was good for him, he'd follow, because at this point, Natsu was inches away from kicking his ass. No one screwed with his relationship with his best friend.

He stopped under the same tree where this had all begun and waited. It wasn't 30 seconds later before he heard the soft crunch of Gajeel's boots, and taking a deep breath, Natsu turned and leveled the other man with a scowl. "Tell me what you said to her...now."

Gajeel's face folded into a sneer at Natsu's command, but after a moment, it fell away, leaving him sighing with regret. "I...I screwed it all up man. I thought I'd flirt with her a little, let her know I knew how she felt..."

"What...did...you...say?" Natsu's patience at an end. His friend was getting further and further away, and he still had no idea why. "What the hell did you say to her to make her leave me this...this...bullshit note?!" he snarled, shoving the slip of paper into the other man's face.

The Iron Slayer drew his head back, his eyes straining to read it before taking the white sheet in his hands. Natsu watched him read the cursed thing, watched his eyes moving back and forth over Lucy's hastily scribbled note. Lucy's handwriting never looked like that unless she was upset, and if that hadn't been enough of a red flag, her speech in the message certainly had filled him in.

Natsu,

Happy wanted to send you a message to let you know that he is with me on a job request. We left a message with Mira for you to join us, but that will no longer be necessary. Please don't come after us. We've already boarded a train and are by now already on our way to another place. Please refrain from entering my home while we are away as I don't want anything messed up. We will only be gone for a few days, so you need not worry about Happy. I'll make sure he is safe while we are away.

Lucy.

The note had been short and to the point, and she'd sounded far too rigid. That wasn't how Lucy talked to him. It wasn't how Lucy talked to anyone. And she never left on jobs without him. It was always him and her and Happy. They were a team, the best of friends, and yet she'd left him behind. And why would she only assure him of Happy's safety. She knew how much he worried over her. Why would she say it like that?

He couldn't help it. He was worried, not just about the two of them on a job alone. He knew Lucy could take care of herself, and if things looked too difficult, she was smart enough to back off and ask for help. She wasn't the type to let her pride push her into something she couldn't handle. And if worst came to worst, he knew Happy would fly them away to safety.

But that wasn't the point. The point was he was supposed to be there with them. He was the one that was supposed to be fighting by Lucy's side, watching her back. This was all wrong.

More importantly, her message had scared him because Lucy had never pulled away from him like this. They were tight, as close as two friends could be, and the fact that she had bailed the way she did left him nervous over the state of their relationship. Sure, Lucy had been pissed at him before and vice versa. They'd gotten over it almost instantly just like every other silly fight they'd had. So why did this time feel so different? Why did it pain him this way?

Looking up at the man opposite him, he felt anger flash through his being again. This was all his fault. Reaching out, he snatched the note from Gajeel's hand and snapped, "Tell me what you did to make her leave me behind!"

Gajeel winced, his face filling with regret. "I quoted something she wrote in her diary. I didn't mean..." He took a deep breath and continued, running an agitated hand through his hair. "She...she thought I was making fun of her."

Natsu felt his stomach drop, his mind adding things up and filling in blanks. "She figured out you read her diary..."

"I'm sorry man. She asked me how I'd gotten it, and I...I didn't want to lie to her."

"How upset was she?" Natsu muttered, his brow already wrinkling at what he knew Gajeel would say.

The older man's face fell. "She was crying. She told me to keep the diary because she didn't want us to miss out on our fun."

"Damn..." Natsu stared at Gajeel in defeat, his anger all but gone in the wake of this new information. "She's never going to talk to me again," he said softly. He couldn't believe how badly everything had gone. He'd only wanted to help her because he hated to see her sad, and now, everything was all messed up.

"This was my fuck up, not yours. I'll figure out some way to fix it," Gajeel said, lifting a hand helplessly before dropping it to his side and sighing. "I think my ship is sunk with her, but I'll do what I can to get her to talk to you. I can't guarantee she'll listen though. I'm pretty sure she hates me now."

Natsu blinked at the other slayer in surprise. He hadn't anticipated Gajeel offering to talk to Lucy on his behalf, and as he thought over their conversation, he realized that the Iron Dragon Slayer was being strangely helpful. He honestly seemed upset over the whole thing, especially the fact that he believed his chances to be ruined. Maybe Gajeel had more feelings for Lucy than he'd let on.

"You like her, don't you?" Natsu asked quietly. "I mean, you really like her."

Gajeel's eyes narrowed at the personal question, and he looked away, his shoulders squaring in defense. "Yeah, but it doesn't really matter anymore, does it?"

"It'll matter to Luce." If she'll ever hang around long enough to listen, Natsu wanted to add, but seeing Gajeel's dejected face, decided to keep that to himself. He felt fairly certain the other man was already thinking the same thing.

What a mess... His best friend was mad at him, his partner was off with her on a job that they'd cut him out of, and here he was...stuck with the guy that had screwed things up for both of them.

He sighed and slumped against a tree, letting his head fall back as he closed his eyes. Maybe she'd calm down while she was gone. Maybe she'd come to realize that he'd never take her feelings so lightly. She should know him well enough by now to know that already. Still he had to admit that it looked bad. He had taken her diary. Well, Happy technically was the one who took it, but he'd been the one to give it to Gajeel. And Gajeel had taken that information and...completely blown everything to shit.

Damn...he wished she hadn't left. He hated leaving things like this. He wasn't a patient man, and he didn't like when his friends were hurt. He wanted to fix it. He wanted his best friend back and smiling that happy smile he loved so much. "This sucks..."

His response was a grunt from the tree next to him, and he glanced over to see Gajeel in much the same position he was in. "I don't like this waiting shit," Natsu griped.

"A few days..." Gajeel said, his tone equally frustrated. "Could be worse, I guess."

"How the hell could it be worse?!" Natsu complained, shooting his cohort a look of disbelief.

"She could be gone for a couple weeks!" he snapped back

Natsu blanched at the thought of waiting that long to see his friend and work things out. He'd go crazy if Lucy stayed gone for weeks. Suddenly, the idea of sitting here with his thumb up his ass didn't sound so great. "You know what, I'm not doing this."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Gajeel asked, opening his eyes to peer up at Natsu moving away from the tree. "Hey, where the hell are you going?"

"I'm going after Luce. You stay here like a pansy ass if you want to, but I'm not waiting."

"Fuck that. I'm going with you," Gajeel yelled, scrambling to his feet.

Natsu shrugged his assent and kept moving toward the guild. Maybe they could both fix things with Luce. Then she wouldn't be sad anymore. He couldn't say he was thrilled at the thought of the Iron Dumbass dating his best friend, especially after this shit storm, but if it made Luce happy, then he'd let it go.

He couldn't help wondering though how the big idiot would fare with Lucy this time around. Would he manage to even get two words in before she ripped him a new one? She'd apparently chewed him up and spit him out earlier after Gajeel had tried to 'flirt' with her. And though Natsu had never actually attempted to flirt with anyone, he figured even as inexperienced as he was, he'd be a hell of a lot better at it than Gajeel obviously was.

Turning to the solemn man beside him, Natsu scoffed, "You know...you really suck at flirting..."

Making it safely to Clover, Lucy and Happy made their way down the street towards the mayor's office, both lost in their own thoughts. Happy knew he needed to tell his friend the truth, that it was him that had stolen her diary. He hadn't done it to be mean, but Lucy might not care why. She was so mad at Natsu, but it was really his fault for being so curious to begin with.

They walked for another ten minutes until Happy could take it no more. He didn't want to keep secrets like this, so with a deep sigh, he broke the silence.

"Lucy...can I tell you something?"

Lucy looked down at the little cat and smiled. "Sure Happy. What's up?"

"I..." he trailed off, his head hung in shame. "I don't want you to be mad at me."

The blonde came to a stop, her expression falling in confusion. "What? Why would I be mad at you?"

"It's my fault," he whispered guiltily. "I'm the one that took your diary."

Lucy's eyes widened at his admission, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as her eyes filled. "It was you? Why would you do that?"

"I'm sorry," he uttered pitifully. This whole thing had started with Lucy crying, and he had wanted nothing more than stop it. And now, here she was crying again, and this time was because of him. He felt so bad.

"Those were my private thoughts," she cried. "They weren't meant for anyone else!"

"I know Lucy!" Happy sobbed, his eyes spilling over with his own tears. "I saw you this morning. You were writing in that book, and you were crying. You looked so sad..."

Lucy paused in her anger. "You saw me?"

"I hate seeing you sad, and I just thought...if I could find out what was making you cry, I could fix it." His voice trembled as he explained, but it didn't matter as long as she was listening. "But I didn't know what to do..." he sniffed, "So I took it to Natsu. He didn't want to look at it, but he did it for me because I was upset."

"Happy..." Lucy called, her face softening as he told his tale.

"We just wanted to help, Lucy. We weren't trying to be bad," Happy finished tearfully. He hated having to admit that everything had happened because of him, but he felt better knowing he had told the truth. Now maybe she wouldn't be so angry at Natsu. "Please don't be mad at us."

The blonde reached down and swooped him up in her arms, hugging him close to her chest. "Oh Happy...you silly cat," she sniffled, rubbing her face against the top of his head. "How can I be mad at you when you were just worried about me?"

"You're not mad?" he asked, tipping his head up to give her hopeful eyes.

"No," she laughed softly. "I understand why you did it, and it's really sweet of you to want to fix it for me. I wish you could, but that's not how it works."

Happy nodded sagely. He had figured that out from how badly things had gone. Still, he didn't like that Lucy was having such a hard time. He liked teasing her, but he didn't like seeing her unhappy. He liked her smile. "What about Natsu?"

Lucy sighed, then started walking again. "I'll have to talk to him when I get back. I still don't like that he showed my diary to Gajeel. I mean, I understand that he thought he was helping, but...well, you saw how that went."

"Yeah," he answered quietly.

Gajeel had really messed things up with her. Happy wasn't quite sure what the Iron Dragon Slayer had been trying to do, but it sure hadn't gone over well with Lucy. "Gajeel's an idiot."

Lucy's face broke into a smile, and she giggled. "Yes, he really is."

Happy smiled at the small laugh, then frowned, his head tipping in curiosity. "I thought you liked him."

"I do...or I did..." Lucy sighed, her shoulders lifting in an uncertain shrug. "I don't know. I guess it really doesn't matter, huh? He obviously doesn't like me very much if he was willing to make fun of me like that."

The blue Exceed watched his friend's face fall, and he set a comforting paw on her cheek. "Well, if he doesn't like you, then he's definitely an idiot."

Lucy's lips lifted in a small grin, and she leaned down, pressing a light kiss to his head. "Thanks Happy."

Happy beamed up at his partner, glad that he'd managed to work things out with her and fix things between her and Natsu. He was feeling pretty proud of himself, but the best thing was knowing he could have his team back together again. He couldn't wait to get back to Magnolia. He wanted things back the way they used to be...with him, Natsu, and Lucy going off on missions as a group. Cause, no matter how much he loved going off with Lucy, it was always better with all together.