"You weren't kidding," I commented, eyeing Gray from my spot at the dining room table. He glanced over at me from his perch on the couch.
"What?" he asked.
"You do suck at laundry." I cackled at the glare he sent me before returning to his task. In front of him sat a mountain of shirts, jeans, slacks, and various types of underwear. Both men wore briefs. Who knew?
"If you don't like my folding, why don't you come do it yourself?" Gray snapped, throwing down a red t-shirt. I looked back down to my notebook, twiddling the pencil in between my fingers.
"Nope. You lost. Suffer the consequences."
Gray huffed. Shaking my head with a smile, I read back over the last few paragraphs I'd written. I was able to keep the details mostly the same, though I had to fudge what I couldn't remember. The biggest change was the introduction of a new character. Upon leaving the magic shop, the protagonist meets a hot-headed boy and his talking, flying cat. After accidentally getting involved with a human trafficking ring, she's saved by the boy again. In a surprising show of strength, the boy reveals that he is a fire wizard. I scrunched up my nose as I reread the fight scene between him and ring leader. Something about it just wasn't…clicking. I narrowed my eyes.
"You should have him use a magic attack," a voice said, right into my ear. I jumped three feet out of my chair and screamed. The voice chuckled.
"Natsu!" I grabbed my heart and twisted around the glare at him. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry," he said around a mouthful of apple, not sounding sorry at all. "But seriously, you should have him use a magic attack. It would be badass."
My glare intensified as I closed the notebook. "Who said you could read that?" I peeked back into the notebook, eyes skimming back over the scene again. Damn it, he was right.
Natsu shot me a grin as he walked into the living room, falling into an armchair and taking another bite of apple. I sighed and dragged my eraser across the page, sorely missing my laptop. Erasers were messy; they dirtied and crinkled the pages, especially when you had to erase a lot. I subtly glanced back at Natsu as I considered what type of magic attack to use. He had become my muse for this specific character, not that I would ever admit that out loud. He and Gray would rib me relentlessly if they ever found out. A small smile stretching across my lips, I decided to give the boy in the story dragon-type magic. Natsu had told me about how his adoptive father, Igneel, used to make up bedtime stories for him. All of them had dragons. Natsu had inherited the love of the creature through osmosis, apparently.
I opened the second notebook I'd bought with Gray, the one that contained all the information on my characters, and added the new details to the boy's character sheet. I had a handful of other characters planned out, all shamelessly inspired by the people around me. There was an ice magic wielder who had a volatile, but friendly, relationship with the fire wizard. There was the barmaid who worked at the wizard guild who hid a dark past behind a bright smile, and her brother who could bench press a bus. There was the beautiful but deadly swordswoman, who both the ice and fire wizards were terrified of. I was working out relationships in my head, connecting each character to another in different ways, but was still undecided on how my two main characters would connect. Would they be the best of friends, platonic life partners, or would they become something more? I stole another glance at Natsu. I guessed only time would tell.
As I wrote the protagonist's introduction to the guild, my hand started to slow. The sound of the action movie Natsu and Gray had agreed on was distracting me, and my stomach was beginning to growl. Just as I was about to get up to stretch, a knock sounded at the door.
Both men shared a look, some unspoken argument, before Gray sighed and made his way across the room. Natsu turned back to the TV with a triumphant look on his face. I rolled my eyes. Men.
"Juvia?" Gray sounded surprised, and moved out of the way for the blue-haired woman to enter the room. "What are you doing here?" A twinge of panic edged into his voice. "I thought date night was tomorrow night."
"Oh, it is," Juvia assured him, patting his cheek as one might comfort a child. "Juvia isn't here for you. She's here for Lucy."
"What?" I spoke up, alerting her to my position at the table. Now it was my turn to panic. "Have I done something wrong? Because I swear to you, Juvia, I—"
Juvia let loose a peal of laughter. "Oh no! Juvia was just wondering if you wanted to come hang out with a bunch of us today. Go shopping and all those fun things women do." Both Natsu and Gray opened their mouths, but Juvia held up a hand to silence them. "You two aren't invited. And before you argue," Juvia continued quickly, as both had opened their mouths again, "Levy will be with us, as will Erza. Juvia is sure Lucy can survive a few hours without you two mommy hawks watching over her."
She turned back to me. "How does that sound?" A girls' day. I hadn't had one in ages. Even in the early stages of our relationship, Dan complained about me going out without him. But Lulu, he would whine, I'll be lonely without you. This steadily turned to jealousy. Who were you really with, Lulu? You think I'll believe that? You were with another man, I can smell him all over you.
I shook my head, silencing Dan's whispers. Looking back at Juvia, a smile split across my face. Girl time. Shopping. Maybe hitting up a book store or two, since Levy was coming. This could be fun.
"That sounds awesome!" I cheered, feeling giddy. "Just let me throw on some jeans, and we can leave." I'd been sitting around in sweats for the majority of the day. Since both Natsu and Gray were off today, I figured I wouldn't be going anywhere, either. Just as I was heading over to the suitcase I kept stashed in the coat closet, Juvia stopped me.
"Lucy, it's pretty hot today. Maybe shorts would be a better choice," she suggested, taking in my sweats and Magnolia University hoodie. An uncomfortable coil twisted in my stomach. Shorts would show off my legs.
"It's fine," I assured her cheerfully, stepping around her. "Besides, I don't own any shorts, so it's cool."
"At least take off your hoodie, then. You're gonna roast out there in it. Juvia doesn't understand how you're not roasting in here…" Genuine concern laced her tone, and I tried to wave her off. I started to argue that I would be fine, but she was adamant. Sighing, I pulled out my lightest long-sleeved shirt, compromising. The thought of showing off my arms again…
I shivered as I changed in Gray's bathroom. Dan's words came floating back into my ears. Comments about how much skin I showed, accusations of attention-seeking. I pulled the slightly translucent material over my hands, feeling entirely too exposed. With a deep breath, I stepping out of the bathroom, where Juvia waited with something in her hands. She had a huge smile on her face, which Natsu mirrored. Getting a better look at what was in her hands, my breath caught in my throat.
Flip flops. Pink flip flops. Juvia had brought me pink flip flops. My toes wiggled in my socks, and I could practically feel the breeze moving through them. When was the last time I'd worn flip flops? Dan had hated them; hated the sound they made when I walked, hated the way the designs would fade from overuse, hated the way they showed off my newly painted toenails. I reached out, trying desperately to remember why I stopped wearing them in the first place. The answer floated farther away once I had my hands on them. I lifted watery eyes to look at Juvia, grateful words bubbling just behind my lips. Natsu seemed to be having a mini heart attack—She's crying. Why is she crying? Juvia, you said this would make her happy!—but Juvia just smiled wider. She prompted me to try them on, and I ripped off my socks in my haste. One look at my toes, and I suddenly remembered why I covered them.
God, Lulu, you have such weird toes!
I recoiled, clenching my socks tightly. "O-on second thought, maybe I'll just stick to my sneakers…" I mumbled, lifting my foot onto the couch to put my sock back on. I was stopped by a hand on my wrist.
"Woah!" Natsu exclaimed, staring at my feet. I turned bright red under his gaze, embarrassment and shame building up in me. I opened my mouth to apologize, but was cut off. "You have 'em, too!"
I stared at him blankly. "Huh?"
"Long toes!" Natsu explained, entirely too excited for comfort. Suddenly, he ripped his socks off, too, and pulled his feet up onto the couch beside mine. My eyes widened. His toes were long, too. "Igneel used to call 'em 'monkey toes.' Said it meant I was 'evolutionarily advanced.'"
Gray whistled. "That's a big phrase. Didn't know you had such a big vocabulary, Volcano Breath."
Natsu shot him a quick glare. "You're just jealous."
"Jealous of what?" Gray choked out, chuckling. "Of your proof that you never fully evolved from monkeys?"
"No, of this." Natsu picked up one of my stray pencils that I'd left on the coffee table and dropped it onto the floor. Without another word, he reached his foot down and gripped it in his toes, bending his leg to place it in his hand. I stared open-mouthed, but Gray snorted. He leaned over to me.
"Told you he was a monkey."
But I ignored him. I'd never seen anyone else do that. My mother had always told me it was a Heartfilia talent, being able to pick things up with our toes. I very rarely saw my mother bend over to retrieve anything she dropped. She always slipped her shoe off, hooked the item in her toes, and brought it up to her hand. As a child, I'd always been fascinated by it. It didn't matter how big or small the object was, Mama could grab it. My toes weren't nearly as skilled, but I'd grown up doing the same thing.
A wave of nostalgia hit me, and I took the pencil from Natsu. The argument him and Gray had been having stopped when I dropped the pencil back onto the floor. Natsu raised an eyebrow at me before reaching his leg over to pick it up again, but I stopped him. I was rusty—I hadn't done this in a while—and it took me a few tries to grab it, but I managed to grip the pencil clumsily between my toes. I held it suspended for a moment, just staring at it, before I brought my leg up to deposit it into my hand. A giggle escaped my lips before I could stop it, and my audience gave me looks of concern and bewilderment. Shaking my head, I let my giddy giggles come more freely.
"My mom had really long toes, too," I explained quietly, turning the pencil over in my fingers. "I can probably count on one hand how many times I saw her actually bend over to pick something up." I turned to Natsu. "She was a pro. Taught me how to do it when I was little. I thought it was the coolest thing ever…I stopped because Dan—" I choked slightly on his name. Taking a deep breath, I soldiered on. "Dan hated it. Thought it was super gross. He hated feet. Hated my feet. Guess eventually I started to at some point, too."
The room was quiet for a moment, before Juvia broke the silence.
"Juvia really likes your toes, Lucy." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "You know what this means right? Now we have to get pedicures. It's just a plain injustice to keep toes that cute covered up."
A small fraction of the smile I'd worn earlier wormed its way back onto my face. Natsu and Gray shared a look, then shrugged, smiling.
"One day can't hurt," Gray reasoned, shrugging again.
"Plus, you'll have Erza with you. You're safer with her than you are with either of us," Natsu inputted, crossing his arms. I chuckled quietly.
"Then why am I staying with you two, again?" I challenged, and we all laughed. I slipped the flip flops onto my feet, grabbed my wallet, and followed Juvia to the door. Casting one more look at the two men still seated in the living room, I smiled and waved. Then, I shut the door and followed Juvia down the stairs to her car.
We met up with Levy at Fairy Tail, where we ordered lunch. Mira and Lisanna joined us at our table, placing our orders in front of us. Levy introduced herself to the Strauss siblings, who then asked her how she felt about working with Gajeel. I had been expecting a grimace, but was surprised to see a slight blush dust across her cheeks. Interesting.
I wasn't the only one who noticed. Juvia dropped her chin onto her hands, supporting herself on her elbows, as she demanded more details. Levy's unwillingness to share only fueled the fire, and soon the Strauss sisters were laying into her as well. Erza joined us not too much later, waving off the offer of lunch, and we were on our way. She asked Lisanna how wedding planning was going, which started an entirely new conversation. I laughed, joked, offered advice on how to better deal with Gajeel, and splurged on outfits. I smiled more in those few hours than I had in two years. I could feel myself start to come out of my shell a little bit, wiggling my freshly pedicured toes to better feel the breeze as we walked from store to store. As the sun started to set, Juvia's phone went off.
"Hello?" she answered, sifting through shirts on the rack in front of her. "Ah, Natsu! It's very nice to hear from you." My heart did a stupid little flutter when she said his name, and she winked at me. I ignored her.
"Will Lucy be home for dinner?" she asked loudly, attracting the attention of the other women in our little group. I felt my face get uncomfortably warm under their scrutinizing gazes. "Juvia's not sure. Lucy, will you be home for dinner?" she addressed me, grinning widely. I raised an eyebrow at her emphasis on the word home.
"I dunno, Juvia. You kidnapped me, remember?" I jested back, keeping the tone light. She giggled, turning her attention back to her phone.
"What are you making?" she questioned, fiddling with the hangers on the rack. I bit back a laugh at her conversational tone. Something changed in her face then. "We'll both be home for dinner," she announced suddenly, reaching over to grab my wrist. "We'll be home in fifteen minutes."
She hung up abruptly and started dragging me to the front of the store.
"Sorry, ladies! Lucy and Juvia have a date tonight, so we'll be going. See you soon!" she called over her shoulder, waving at them with her free hand. The women behind us whooped and cheered as she dragged me out onto the street.
"Why are you in such a hurry to get back?" I asked as I struggled to keep up with her pace. "And what do you mean we have a date? What's Natsu cooking that's got you so excited?"
"Natsu's not cooking," Juvia explained, her pace never faltering. "Gray is."
Surprisingly, this was good enough for me. According to Gray himself, he wasn't as good a cook as Natsu, but to a woman in love that hardly mattered. I giggled quietly to myself as I continued to let Juvia drag me along. We made it back to the apartment in less than ten minutes.
"Welcome back!" Natsu greeted us from where he was setting the table. Gray waved from the stove in the kitchen, but didn't turn around. Juvia snuck up behind him, throwing her arms around him and giving him a kiss on the cheek. He yelped at the surprise attack and complained, but I could see the light flush in his cheeks and the small smile playing on his lips. The whole scene warmed my heart. That's what it was supposed to look like when a spouse greeted another from a day out. No smartass comments. No accusations. Just smiles and welcoming words. A small part of me felt cold, remembering how many fights Dan and I had over me spending time out. Remembering the last night I'd been welcomed home by him. The smile I'd sported the entire day began to slip from my face.
Just then, a weight settled itself across my shoulders. Natsu had thrown his arm around me.
"How was girls' day?" he asked, a warm smile on his face. I searched his face for any ulterior motives—why would he care—and was confused to find none.
"It was good…" I began warily, still watching his face. The smile never left, but he did remove his arm.
"Yeah? Did you guys get mani-pedis?" he asked, adopting a slight lisp. I laughed lightly.
"As a matter of fact," Juvia answered for me as she entered, carrying a pan. Gray followed close behind her, carrying two more. The smell of chicken and potatoes wafted into my nose, causing my mouth to water.
"Exciting~!" Natsu trilled girlishly, causing both Juvia and I to giggle. Gray rolled his eyes. "You guys, like, have to show me!"
"After dinner," Gray insisted, spooning mashed potatoes onto his plate. He already had a few chunks of fried chicken breast and a small mountain of corn resting there. Juvia had speared two chicken chunks as well, accepting the potatoes from her boyfriend. Natsu had already covered two-thirds of his plate when the chicken was handed to me.
We filled our bellies as banter drifted around the room, along with warm laughter. The light was soft, casting gentle shadows across the room. That peaceful feeling washed over me again, pulling me out to sea. I retracted myself from the conversation, in which Juvia was recanting our "ladies' day," in favor of just taking in the scene in front of me. When Juvia would pause for too long, Gray would prompt her to continue her story. Natsu would insert his opinions and other miscellaneous reactions as she spoke, but he never changed the subject. Every now and then, he would turn to me and ask for my input.
As dinner wound down, I began to collect the dishes. With mine, Juvia's, and Gray's plates in hand, I made my way into the kitchen. I was just walking past the threshold when I made my mistake. There was a small strip of wood that served as a dividing line between the hardwood of the dining area and the tile of the kitchen. My bare foot caught on that strip, causing me to stumble. As I regained my balance, Gray's plate slipped from my grasp. It hit the floor hard, shattering. Time seemed to stop. I stared at the broken plate, the porcelain slivers spread out in all directions, and felt my heart begin to beat painfully again. Suddenly, there wasn't enough oxygen in the air.
"I…I'm sorry…" I breathed, unable to move. My voice seemed to break the spell. Natsu pushed his chair back, telling me not to move.
"Gray, go get the broom. Here, hand me the other plates. I'll take 'em—"
"No!" I snapped, more intensely than I'd meant to. "No," I repeated, quieter, "stay back. You'll get hurt. Here, give me the broom. I-I'll clean it up. I'm sorry. It was my fault. I'll clean it up." I was beginning to babble as I shakily set the remaining plates on the counter. Gray had returned with the broom, which I took from him. He made a motion to help, but I stopped him.
"You guys go ahead, do your thing. I made the mess, I'll clean it up." That had become my mantra: I'll clean it up. Dan's voice wasn't the one that rang clearly in my ears. This time, it was my father. Look at what you did, Lucy! Look at the mess you made! Jesus… I slammed my eyes shut, trying to block it out. I was shaking harder now, gripping the broom handle to tightly I was sure my knuckles were white. A lady shouldn't be this clumsy. These dishes were pretty expensive, too—
"Lucy, breathe," Natsu's voice cut through the static in my head. I opened my eyes and his face was blurry. Bringing a quivering hand up, I rubbed away the tears I didn't know had filled my eyes. "It's okay. It's just a plate. We have more." His tone was light, carefree, as if he really didn't care about the plate. But plates were expensive. He had to be mad. He was just hiding it.
"I'm sorry," I whispered again, looking back down at the floor. I had succeeded in cleaning up absolutely none of the broken pieces. This only fueled my panicking mind. "I'll-I'll get this cleaned up. I'll pay you back—" His laughter cut me off, startling me.
"Pay for it? Lucy, why would you need to pay for it? It was an accident. It's not like you screamed 'Opah!' and chucked it at the wall. Though, now that I think about it, that would've been hilarious." He gingerly picked the dustpan up off the counter, kneeling to position it so I could sweep plate chips in. Slowly, carefully, I began to.
"It's really not a big deal," he continued, eyes trained on the dustpan. "We bought those plates from the dollar store when we moved in. Not exactly the most durable stuff. I've broken more in a week than you have in the two weeks that you've been living here."
"That's not something you brag about, loser!" Gray called from the living room, and Juvia let out a small laugh. Slowly, my tense muscles started to relax again. Natsu threw me a smug smirk.
"And Gray's broken more than I have! He's the one who screams and launches them at the walls."
"That was one time, asshole! Let it go!" Gray realized his mistake five seconds too late.
"Let it go, let it go! Can't hold it back anymore!" Natsu sang off-key. He threw his arms out in a flourish, spinning around the kitchen as he dumped the last of the broken plate into the trash can. To my surprise, Juvia joined in a moment later, sounding much more in-tune. Gray groaned on the couch, throwing an arm over his face.
"I walked right into that one," he conceded, letting out a long-suffering sigh. He turned to Juvia. "Et tu, Brute?" he demanded dramatically, causing her to laugh. Instead of answering, she lifted herself onto her knees and wrapped her arms around his head, singing louder.
"Here I stand, and here I'll stay! Let the storm rage on! C'mon, Lucy!" Juvia encouraged, gesturing to me with her free arm. Natsu had stopped singing as well, and was looking at me expectantly. I glanced from him, to Juvia, to Gray and back before I took a deep breath.
"My power flurries through the air into the ground." I sang solo. Natsu and Juvia cheered, and with each note I got more confident. I began to sashay around the room, spinning the broom in my hand as if it were a dance partner. It wasn't as fun as dancing with Natsu, but I didn't have to compare for long. Just as I was singing the last line of the bridge, Natsu swept me up into his arms, spinning me around the room.
"Let it go! Let it go! And I'll rise like the break of dawn!" The three of us sung together in perfect unison, causing Gray to hide his face in his hands. I stepped out of Natsu's arms to pull Gray's hands away.
"C'mon, Gray," I laughed, begging him with my eyes. He glanced over at Juvia before he sighed again. He looked like he was going to argue, but Natsu shot him a meaningful look. Sighing again, he watched us for a moment longer before belting out the final verse alone.
"Here I stand, in the light of day-! Let the storm rage on…" He held the note, then paused for dramatic effect. A wry smile etched its way onto his face. He wiggled his eyebrows at Juvia, pulling her into his arms as he finished the song. "The cold never bothered me anyway." Then he pulled her into a short kiss.
That warm feeling was back in full force. Natsu had an arm wrapped around my shoulders again, and I turned into his chest, my hand resting there and my arm around his waist, both of us laughing. Gray pulled away from Juvia and she swooned in his arms, causing him to panic. This just fueled more laughter from us in the peanut gallery.
As we regained control of ourselves, Juvia checked her phone.
"Oh goodness! Juvia didn't realize it was that late. She has a shift in the morning." Juvia began to collect her things, only for Gray to stop her.
"You could...you know…stay here…tonight," he mumbled, and I couldn't help but crack up a little. Mr. Suave-two-seconds-ago was suddenly Mr. Shy. Natsu rolled his eyes and pretended to gag.
"Shut up! Just 'cause you don't have a girlfriend-!" The rest of his retort was cut off by Juvia jumping into his arms.
"Juvia thought you would never ask!" she declared, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. I shook my head and smiled, returning to the dining room to collect the rest of the dishes. Natsu wasn't far behind me.
As we began our washing and drying routine, I glanced at the clock. It was almost nine o'clock. I hadn't realized it was that late, either. Gray and Juvia shuffled into his room, him saying something about finding her something to sleep in, and suddenly Natsu and I were alone. All of the anxiety from my freak out earlier came creeping back up, and I shot a glance at him beside me.
"So, uh," I cleared my throat, catching his attention. He still had that gleam in his eye from earlier, and a small smirk played on his lips. The butterflies that seemed to have taken up permanent residence in my stomach betrayed me again. "I'm…sorry. For earlier. For freaking out like that."
Natsu's face remained passive. "I'm guessing Dan didn't like broken dishes?" he asked casually, keeping his eyes on the pan he was drying. I let out a humorless laugh.
"No, actually. My father didn't. I learned very early not to drop plates." I shuttered, remembering the consequences. Where Dan hated to raise his voice, my father almost always immediately resorted to it. I panicked anytime anyone yelled. The last month and some change had been a crash course in exposure therapy for me.
Natsu's jaw tightened, and he took in a sharp inhale.
"He didn't, did he?" He'd attempted to keep his tone light, but I could feel the weight of his anger. I handed him the last dish to dry, turning to face him fully.
"No, he didn't. As far as he was concerned, I shouldn't have had the dish in my hands to begin with." I lowered my voice in imitation. "A lady doesn't sully her hands with menial chores. Who says that to a seven year old?"
Natsu put the pan down, bracing himself on the counter with both hands. He kept his eyes clamped shut, but I could see pain etched across his face. I reached up and cupped his cheek in my hand, guiding his face to look at me. He opened his slanted, hazel eyes, searching my face.
"Hey, it's okay," I soothed him, resting my other hand on his shoulder.
"Have you had any experience with someone who told you they loved you that wasn't predatory or painful?" he rasped, empathetic pain filling his eyes. It didn't feel like pity to me. Frozen, I considered his words. Then, I remembered the long conversation I'd had with my father three years ago. I smiled warmly.
"Yes," I whispered. "Three years ago, my father showed up at my apartment, out of the blue. Said he wanted to talk."
I looked Natsu in the eye. He looked warily curious, as if he wasn't sure he was going to like my story. Finding strength in his gaze, I continued.
"Turned out our company, Heartfilia Railways, had been bought out from under him. He'd lost everything. He said that losing his fortune had put things into perspective for him. Said he missed me, wanted to start over." I gave another humorless laugh. "At first, I didn't believe him. I let him know that one apology wouldn't make up for years of neglect…" I took a deep breath. "He said that he knew that, and that he could spend the rest of his life making it up to me and it wouldn't be enough.
"We decided to start small. Meeting for lunch once a week. Then, I would visit the apartment he was renting. Slowly, I began to come around more often. Every time he saw me, his face would light up…" I took a shaky breath. Tilting my head, I looked up into Natsu's eyes. "I haven't so much as spoken to my father in over a year. Dan wasn't a big fan of his. Said that everything he'd done in my youth was unforgivable. When I stopped seeing my friends, I guess I stopped seeing my father, too..." I trailed off. Natsu opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Gray entering the room. I took my hands off of Natsu and stepped away from him, feeling somewhat guilty.
Gray didn't eye us with the same look as he normally did. In fact, he didn't look at Natsu at all.
"Lucy…I just got off the phone with Gildarts. There's something you should know."
I sat on the couch in Gildarts' office, feeling numb. It didn't feel real. He couldn't be gone. I'd just been talking about him. I waited patiently for one of the detectives to come into the room, tell me this was all an elaborate prank. Hell, maybe even he would come in, apologizing profusely for playing such a horrendous joke on his own daughter. It had to be payback. I'd shut him out again, after I promised I wouldn't. He was just getting back at me. The door opened.
It was Gildarts.
"Lucy?" he said softly, closing the door and coming to kneel in front of me. "I'm sorry you had to find out this way. We were looking for him, to let him know what happened, and stumbled across the files. Apparently, they attempted to contact you, but were unable to reach you."
"How long?" I croaked, interrupting him. Gildarts gave me a questioning look.
"How long what?" he asked gently, as if he were afraid of breaking me. I gave him a level look.
"How long has it been? When did they try to contact me?" I clarified evenly, my voice not even shaking. A war waged behind Gildarts' eyes before he answered me.
"About six months ago."
I closed my eyes. Six months ago. When had I missed a call six months ago? Suddenly, the memory came to me.
I was lathering up my hair when I heard my ringtone.
"Dan?" I called, pausing the music on my shower radio. I waited for a moment before continuing. "Can you get that? It might be work-related."
My ringtone cut off. I wondered if he'd ignored it, felt annoyance build up inside me, until I heard his voice from the other side of the door. I waited patiently until he was finished talking—he hated it when I interrupted him—then called out, "Who was it?"
"Wrong number," he answered after a moment's hesitation. I considered his answer for a moment before huffing. It was probably just a friend from work, wanting to know if I wanted to hang out. Guess that answered that question.
I took a steadying breath. That was the only time I could recall that Dan had answered my phone in the last six months. After that, I began taking it into the bathroom with me.
Gildarts began speaking again, giving me details. Apparently, my father had found out he had stage four cancer just under a year ago. There is no stage five. At the time, I'd stopped talking to him again. It wasn't worth the fights with Dan. My father was dying of cancer, and I had shut him out. I figured I should probably be feeling something, some kind of emotion, but I felt nothing. Suddenly, warm hands were running up and down my arms. I opened my eyes and came face to face with familiar hazel ones. Natsu.
"Luce," he breathed, trailing his hands down my arms one final time to rest them in mine. I vaguely noticed that we were alone; Gildarts must have left when Natsu entered. Natsu rested his forehead against mine, much the way he had when we'd danced the first time, and said, "It's okay to cry, Luce."
That one sentence broke the dam inside of me. Throwing my arms around him, I buried my face into the crook of his neck and cried. No, cried it too light of a word. I sobbed. I held onto him as if my life depended on it. Natsu sat down on the floor and pulled me into his lap, wrapping one arm around my waist, the other hand cradling my head. I sobbed and screamed and cursed for what seemed like hours, before I finally began to run out of steam. We stayed in that position for a little while longer, waiting for my shivering to subside, and then I was still. A loud silence had filled the room, but neither one of us made any move to break it. After what seemed like an eternity, Natsu started to stand, pulling me up with him.
"I wanna go somewhere," he announced, wiping the stray tears from my cheeks and straightening my hair. He grabbed both of my hands in his, bending his head slightly to look into my eyes. "Run away with me?"
A smile stretched across my lips, unbidden, and I nodded. Pulling me by my hand, he lead me out of the station, stopping only to grab a jacket off of his chair. We were met with questioning eyes that we both ignored. He loaded me up into the car we took to get to the safe house, and we were off.
He didn't tell me where we were going, and I didn't ask. We drove for about two hours before we reached the seaside town of Hargeon. When Natsu finally stopped the car, I shot him a questioning look.
"The beach?" I spoke, my voice hoarse from crying. He simply sent me a grin before getting out of the car, gesturing for me to follow. According to the dashboard clock, it was close to six-thirty in the morning, and the sky was just beginning to turn a pale blue. Sliding out of the passenger seat, I followed him onto the sand, where I stood beside him. I was about to ask what he were doing there, but he simply placed one finger against his lips and pointed the other one out over the water.
Just as I turned to look, the sun began to peak out over the horizon. Rays of gold sparkled on the water, and streaks of purple and red shot across the sky. I stared as the sun rose slowly over the ocean, light inching its way down the beach to us. As the first morning rays of sun hit me, an early fall breeze rolled in, causing me to shiver. Wordlessly, Natsu rested his jacket on my shoulders. Even though I knew he hadn't put it on since we'd left the precinct, it was still warm, and it smelled like him. I slid my arms into the sleeves and pulled it around myself, reveling in the feeling of safety that cocooned me. Keeping my eyes on the sunrise, I broke the silence.
"He wanted to fix things, Natsu." I couldn't feel his eyes on me, so I assumed Natsu hadn't looked at me, either. "I promised. A week before I met Dan, I promised I wouldn't shut him out again. A few months later, I stopped making an effort to see him." My throat tightened up again and tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. "What must he think of me now? I broke that promise." I looked down. "I'm a horrible person."
"Nah," Natsu replied nonchalantly. I stiffened. "You tried. Things got in the way. Sure, there are things you could've done differently, but that's the thing." He did turn to me this time, cupping my upper arms gently in his hands to turn me as well. "It's a coulda, shoulda, woulda. Something you can't change. Now, I didn't know your dad. Like, at all. But I can tell you that if he really loved you, he would be so proud of you right now. You left an abusive relationship, and you are pressing charges. Do you know how brave that is? How many women return to their abusers, even after they've been almost killed? What you're doing right now, Lucy, that takes courage. That takes strength. Something you have in spades. It's one of the things I really admire about you."
I blushed, our eyes locking on each other. He admired me? Was I really all of those things he believed I was? My mind wanted to debunk them, but my heart refused to let it. Seeing the affection in his eyes as he looked at me, my heart soared.
"You really think so?" I asked, my voice small. He grinned big.
"Think? Nah, I know so, and so do you. I wanna hear you say it." He looked at me expectantly.
"What?" I raised an eyebrow at him, not entirely sure what he was asking of me.
"I wanna hear you say it. I want you to tell me, right here, right now, that you're strong."
"Are you serious?" This had to be a joke. There was no way he was actually…
"As a heart attack. Say it," he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. I gave him an imploring look.
"You can't really expect me to…" He stood his ground. I sighed.
"Fine," I whined. Quietly, I mumbled, "I'm strong."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that," he taunted me, cupping his hand behind his ear. "One more time, a little louder." My glare seared into him.
"I'm strong," I repeated, a little louder this time. He still didn't look impressed. Vaguely, the memory of a Spongebob episode came to mind. I'm ugly and I'm proud, indeed.
"I'm strong," I said at my full volume. Natsu shifted his weight to his other foot.
"Again."
"I'm strong!" I raised my voice again. Any louder and I would be shouting. Apparently, that was what he wanted.
"Louder!"
"I'M STRONG!" I roared, my throat protesting my rough treatment of it. Natsu whooped beside me.
"That's the ticket! Again!"
"I'M STRONG!" I screamed again, feeling new energy fill me. A giggle burst past my lips. I bellowed the phrase again and again to the ocean, challenging Poseidon himself to argue with me. Natsu's own laughter filled the air as he jumped and cheered beside me, looking like an overgrown boy. An idea sparked inside me. I stopped yelling long enough to reach down and pick up a handful of sand. Before I could change my mind, I lobbed it at him, hitting him square in the back. He froze instantly. I began to wonder if I'd overstepped, if I'd crossed a line, when he turned to me and growled;
"You are so going to pay for that."
And so, the most epic sandball fight of my life commenced. We spent hours at the beach, lobbing sand back and forth; smooshing it into each other's hair, shoving it down each other's shirts. There was a certain magic that surrounded us as we chased each other, not caring who stopped and stared. We danced, twirling each other and laughing out whatever song lyrics came to mind. For one day, I was absolutely and completely happy. As we drove back into Magnolia that evening, his hand clasped tightly in mine, I basked in the feeling of being in an amazing dream.
The funny thing about dreams, though, is eventually they have to end.
Oh my god, you guys, another chapter! So, I was definitely not planning on updating this soon. I started playing around with this chapter yesterday, taking a break from putting the finishing touches on my proposal, and was going to leave it at that. Unfortunately, the internet was down at work tonight, so I couldn't work on anything productive, so I sat down and wound up getting inspired! Just for the record, the toe thing I added in? Yeah, that's a thing that me and my family can do. We all have like, freakishly long toes. I almost never bend over to pick anything up.
I hope you guys enjoyed the shopping scene, and the Frozen scene as much as I did. I know the Frozen jokes about Gray are super cliched, but c'mon. Natsu would not miss that opportunity. Gray walked right into it. Plus, I just really liked the visual of Natsu, Lucy, and Juvia serenading Gray "Let It Go." I didn't plan it, y'all, it just happened.
Speaking of things I didn't plan; I wasn't going to kill Lucy's dad off yet. Then I was writing her plate freak out, and they were talking about her dad, and I was listening to the Moana soundtrack, and one thing just lead to another, okay? Sorry not sorry for the surprise angst in there.
We've had another chapter of pointless fluff, so you know what that means. The plot is afoot. I have some ideas for plotty plot things, so I hope you guys are as pumped as I am.
Again, I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed since the last update. I would also like to specially thank everyone for their supportive words in regards to my thesis proposal. It really means a lot to me guys, cause I am freaking out about it. As always, I can't promise when the next chapter will be out, but I'll do my best to get it out as soon as I can.