Chapter 16
Natsu, driving his car to the estate was not something unusual for him, especially when he just came from a business trip. But, sitting next to his girlfriend to meet up with his mother for lunch was something relatively new. Although Lucy isn't exactly his girlfriend, just his contractual girlfriend. Regardless, this doesn't usually happen.
It would be naïve of him if he would start thinking that his mother had finally taken some liking to Lucy. Grandine never liked any woman he had dated on his own accord. Unless she was the one to introduce the woman to him. She had a set of criteria. The woman should have a good family background, comes from old money, and has a career established. If she's beautiful, that would be a bonus. If she happens to work in the same industry as him, it would be better.
Taking Lucy's proposal to team up was a good one, as Natsu would believe. Lucy Ashley alone would likely not be enough, but Lucy Heartfilia fulfills all his mother's criteria. Although, he had learned recently that being Jude Heartfilia's daughter may have its disadvantage too.
Natsu peeks at Lucy, who was silently sitting next to him while she stared out of the window. He softly taps on the steering wheel as he recalls what he had discovered about the Heartfilia clan. They have been driving for more than half an hour already and Lucy hasn't said anything besides hearing her hum and grunt.
"So," he starts, making the blonde turn her attention to him, "Feeling nervous?"
Lucy stared at him for a second before she shrugs her shoulders and looked away again. Natsu raised a brow at the silent treatment he was getting.
"Why are you quiet? Did I do something wrong?"
Lucy looks back at him again before she sighs in defeat, "Look Natsu, let's not pretend that this lunch with your mother is not a trap. We're walking right into her game, and I don't know what to expect with your mom,"
Natsu heaves as well, "I agree…but that doesn't mean you have to deal with this alone. You've got me,"
Lucy raised a brow, "Really? So, you believe that being there with me would make this lunch more bearable and smoother to the point that your mother will not figure us out,"
"Yeah," Natsu confidently says before he smirks at the blonde, "I did my homework,"
"Homework?" Lucy bafflingly repeats before she turns around to face the driving pinkette, "What are you talking about?"
"I read about the Heartfilia clan," Natsu gave a serious smile, making the blonde a little uncomfortable.
Lucy doesn't know which makes her more uncomfortable; Natsu digging deeper about her family background or him discovering something that she probably doesn't know about the family. Either way, Lucy felt like puking her guts out.
"…And what did you discover?" Lucy hesitantly asks before she turns her gaze away from the pinkette.
"That your father had changed his last name from Lamour to Heartfilia so as not to cut off the lineage of the Heartfilia clan, which is one of the longest-generational families in Fiore." Natsu then smirks, "You have a long history with your family,"
Lucy looks back at Natsu with relief in her eyes, "Yeah, we do…That is why my father is eager as well in making sure that the Heartfilia clan doesn't end with me,"
"What do you mean?"
"My father made deals regarding with me," Lucy stared at the curious look of the pinkette before she chuckles to herself, "How ironic that I do the same thing to myself,"
Natsu looked back at the road as Lucy kept her eyes away from him. He then tried to understand what Lucy meant and it soon clicked to him what the deal was about.
"He arranged you for marriages?" Natsu asked, sounding stunned. When Lucy nods her head, he couldn't help himself gawk at her, "With whom?"
"I don't know," Lucy says as she shrugs her shoulders and looks back at the man, "Sons of his business associates? I'm sure one of the deals is to keep my last name and…probably something to do with the company,"
Natsu hums in understanding. Weirdly enough, he knew what she meant. Of course, he had never been subjected to an arranged marriage. Blind dates, of course, courtesy of his mother, but it was never about tying the knot and merging their companies. Rather, he's just being arranged to find a partner in life, nothing more, nothing less. But hearing Lucy having experienced that with her father, made him feel irked. Jude doesn't sound like a considering father.
"Is that why you and your father don't get along?" Natsu cautiously asks as he doesn't want to intrude and open wounds.
"It's the reason why I left our home," Lucy tightly smiles at the pinkette before closing her eyes and slumping back into her seat. She lets out a deep sigh as she recalls the night that she left her home. "I don't know if your mom knows any of this. If she does, then probably it's one of her reasons to distrust me,"
Lucy suddenly jumps as Natsu grabs her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. His hand, as usual, was warm and it was comforting. Without hesitation, Lucy squeezes back as if to ground herself and feel that she wasn't doing this lying game alone.
"Whatever my mom or parents know about you and your family, it wouldn't matter. I'm right here and we'll handle it together," Natsu smiles gently at the blonde, "I got into this game knowing how vicious my mother would be and I'm not going to let her ruin your career or hurt you in any form,"
Lucy softly smiles back at him and gave his hand another squeeze, "Thank you…"
As Natsu pulls his hand away, he looks back at the road and noticed how close they were to the manor. He told this to the actress, and they soon readied themselves.
"So, what exactly are we going to do at the Manor besides eating lunch?" Lucy asks as she pulls out her compact and dabs powder on her face.
"To be honest, I'm not sure," Natsu replies before he leans back in his seat and makes an annoyed sound, "Mom seems to want to have some alone time with you though,"
"Alone time? I thought we were doing this together?" Lucy widens her eyes at him.
"I know and that would be our strategy. We are not going to let ourselves be left alone with her. So, even if my mother insists that I rest up in my room, you've got to do something that will require me to stay by your side," Natsu then looks back at the blonde with seriousness all over his face, "I mean it…do everything,"
"Why do I have to do all the job?" Lucy says as she rolls her eyes, "Women don't have to be the demanding ones all the time,"
Natsu then laughs, "My mom knows that I'm clingy. So, if she sees how desperate we are to be together there, she'll relent,"
"You? Clingy?" Lucy laughs as she couldn't imagine the pinkette being such a person, "I have never seen you like that or can imagine you like that,"
"Well, because we aren't in a real relationship and I don't do that to strangers,"
Lucy looks back at the man, feeling a little offended to be considered a stranger. Without realizing it, she was pouting at him, "I'm just a stranger to you?"
"You know what I mean," Natsu retorts as he kept his eyes on the road despite seeing the obvious displeased look of the blonde, "But if you want, I can show you there what it is like to be loved by Natsu Dragneel," Natsu then grins at the blonde, who only rolled her eyes at him.
"Does your mom always ask you to come to the manor with your girlfriend?"
"Nope," Natsu says popping the letter 'p' sound, sounding almost like he's amused, which makes the actress even more irritable.
"Should that be a concern?" Lucy asks with annoyance in her voice.
"Of course, it's a concern. Well, Mom always asks me to drop by the Manor whenever I came on a business trip because she knows how awful flights are for me. But requiring me to bring my girlfriend along is unusual."
Lucy grunts and sarcastically says, "Of course it is. Your mother would be activating her radar and she'll start reading my body language."
Natsu laughs at the mental image of his mother bringing out actual antennas to read Lucy's signal, "Exactly, she'll scan you like you're some robot," The two then laugh together as Lucy imagines the same image as well.
"Any last-minute trivia about you or us that I should have been aware of?" Natsu asks as he slows down in his laughter while he turns to enter the manor compound.
Lucy suddenly sits up straight as they enter the gates, "Aside from the rumor that you and I broke up, no, nothing new." Lucy lets out a nervous sigh before looking back at the pinkette.
As Natsu was stopping in the middle of the driveway, a valet immediately walks towards his door. He finally looks back at Lucy and grins at her.
"Ready?" Lucy asks.
"I'm all fired up,"
As Natsu and Lucy step inside the manor, a slender, white-haired man suddenly turns up in the corner and politely smiled at them. Natsu immediately reached out to Lucy and entwined their hands. Lucy jumped at the sudden gesture, but she was able to hide it as she turns to Natsu and gave a loving look at the pinkette before looking back at the old man.
"Chief Mizayaki," Natsu greets with a wide smile on his face.
"Master Natsu, welcome home," the old man bows to the pinkette. When he stands up, he slightly turns toward the blonde and bows again, "Welcome back to the manor, Ms. Heartfilia,"
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Mizayaki," Lucy sheepishly smiles at the old man before glancing at the president as if asking for reassurance. When Natsu subtly nods his head and squeezes her hand, Lucy looks back at the old man, "I'm glad to be back,"
The old man suddenly sidesteps and raises an arm to gesture toward the hall, "Madam Grandine is waiting for the two of you at the study hall,"
"Is she alone?" Natsu asks.
"No, there are other guests today," Chief Mizayaki then bounces his eyebrows to the pinkette, which the young man immediately recognizes the heads up. His relatives are in the manor and this gathering would be a little bit more chaotic than he'd expect.
"Thanks for the heads up," Natsu then gave a tight-lipped smile before stepping forward and patting the old man on the shoulder, "We'll be on our way,"
As the two walked away, Lucy peeks over her shoulder and sees that the old man had left his spot. She lets out a shaky breath before slightly leaning on Natsu. "Who was that?"
"That was Chief Taru Mizayaki, Dad's chief secretary," Natsu then leans closer to the blonde and whispers, "He's friendly and helpful but he's on my parent's side. So, we pretty much need to act in front of him too,"
"Wow," Lucy sighs in awe before she shakes her head, "Can't believe that there are actual loyal staff still,"
Natsu raised a brow at the blonde, "Why? Did Jude never have one?"
Lucy looks back at the pinkette and glared at him. Natsu shrugs his shoulder before he chuckles to himself and looks away. As they neared the study hall, resounding laughter was heard which brought the two back to their present situation. Lucy could hear various voices talking, with which she wasn't familiar.
"Who exactly are your mom's guests?" Lucy whispers as they were a few doors away from the study hall, "It seems they are many,"
"Relatives," Natsu answers, and suddenly, unconsciously, he squeezes her hand for assurance, "Friendly but you can't figure out whose side they are on,"
Lucy nervously looks at the pinkette and was about to reply when suddenly they were now standing in front of the open doors of the study hall. As soon as they stood there, four pair of eyes turn to them and made the couple freeze in place.
"Natsu!" One of the women exclaims before she starts sniggering in amusement, "Long time no see!"
The young president snaps out of his surprise and smiles at the dark blue-haired woman, who had called unto him. As the woman stood up to welcome him, Natsu took it as a cue to step further inside. Gently tugging the blonde forward, Natsu gave a reassuring hold of her hand before letting go.
"Auntie Grizela," Natsu greeted before he was enveloped in a warm hug, "It's nice seeing you here today,"
"Well, your mother said there is an occasion to celebrate," The older woman then looks over Natsu's shoulder and gave a knowing smile at the blonde, "And I think I know now what she means,"
Natsu turns around to look at Lucy, who was all pleasantly smiling at his aunt. He quickly looks back at her and said, "Auntie Grizela, this is Lucy," he then reaches out to the blonde, and Lucy immediately places her hand on Natsu's outstretched hand, "My girlfriend,"
"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Grizela," Lucy bows her head politely, but was given a raised brow in return.
"It's Mrs. Marvell-Eucliffe, dear," the woman then looked at Natsu before turning her back to the couple and going back to her place.
Lucy saw the look Grizela gave to Natsu before turning away. At that instant, Lucy felt her heart beat faster as she recalls the feeling of being criticized by other people. Lucy knew that she was Grandine's sister, but she wasn't sure of their last names, until today.
As Grizela walks back to her seat, she looked at her older sister and gave a knowing smile. Grandine rolls her eyes in response before she sighs and looks back at the couple in front of them.
"Natsu, Lucy, I'm happy to see you both here now," Grandine suddenly whips her hand across the table, "Why don't you both take your seats, and we'll start planning,"
"Planning?" Lucy curiously asks.
A salmon-pink-haired woman suddenly chortles and says, "Grandine, I don't think the two of them are aware of what this meeting is about,"
"Don't tell me, Natsu that you haven't told Lucy," Grandine then tilts her head, almost like she's taunting her son, to which Natsu immediately recognizes.
"Haven't had the time to tell her about it," Natsu's fist suddenly tightens but quickly unclenches it as he tries to smile at his mother, "Why don't Lucy and I go to the sunroom and talk about it before we join your meeting? I just came in from the airport and I'm pretty much tired,"
"Oh, well then…" Grandine smiles as she stands up, "Why don't you take your rest in your room while Lucy joins us, and we'll tell her everything about what this planning is for?"
Lucy easily sees the woman's agenda, making her hold Natsu's hand a little tighter. At instinct, Lucy stumbles to Natsu's side, causing the man to startle and catch the blonde from falling.
"Luce, are you okay?" Natsu alarmingly asks as he wraps an arm around Lucy's waist and held her close, "Are you all right?"
"Uh…yeah," Lucy groans as she massages her temple, "I just felt dizzy all of a sudden,"
"Do you want me to take you home?" Natsu whispers with concern in his voice as he holds her even more.
"No, no," Lucy gave a lazy smile as she tries to stand on her own but tumbles a little, making Natsu hold her even more, "Maybe I just need some rest,"
"All right," Natsu softly answers before he kisses the forehead of the blonde and looks back at the others, "Mom, I'll have to take Lucy to my room to rest. We'll join you all when we've rested,"
Grandine is silent for a moment, trying her best not to frown and relax her jaws. As she lets out a staggering sigh, she nods her head at her son and said, "Yes, sure. You two take a rest first and we'll call you when lunch is ready,"
"Thank you," Natsu gratefully smiles at his mother before he turns away along with Lucy and heads out of the study hall.
When the two were getting far from the study hall, Natsu couldn't help but squeeze Lucy's side and then grin when he hears her yelp.
"Great performance, actress,"
"Thank you,"
The two then sniggers as they headed off for the third floor of the manor.
Lucy sighs in surprise as she enters the bedroom of the pink-haired president. She looked around and saw the similarities and differences between the room and Natsu's house. It had that same warm feeling, but somehow, there is that tinge of loneliness around as well.
"What is it?" Natsu asks as he walks past the blonde and starts to walk toward his walk-in closet.
"Nothing," Lucy mutters as she kept herself busy studying the room, "Your room is decent, but the place doesn't scream you," she then looks at the pinkette and suddenly lets out a soft screech.
"Well, that happens when you don't stay here," Natsu replies without regard for the blonde while he unbuttons his pants after unbuttoning his dress shirt and left it wide open. When he hears the blonde yelp, he looks up at her and tilts his head in confusion. "What happened to you?"
Lucy abruptly turns around as her face turns red after seeing Natsu's undressed state. She had seen him half-naked a few times already but somehow, it still stuns her how good-looking the pinkette was. His tan skin makes him look like some beach model, then his abs looked like it was sculptured. It's weird for her to find him quite worthy of fantasizing but no. Lucy stop it.
"Y-you!" Lucy bellows, pointing a finger at the pinkette backward, keeping her back to him, "You should—you should make it a habit to give a warning when you undress,"
Natsu scrunches his brow as he stares at the back of the blonde. Suddenly, he chuckles at her antics, "Sorry, I forgot that you aren't my real girlfriend,"
Lucy's eyes grew wide a little at that. It is true, they aren't real, but they must pretend to be one and she should know better. She's an actress, for Pete's sake, she should not get flustered when a man suddenly strips before her. Instead, she should be able to move comfortably around him in that state because they'll never know when an outsider might suddenly walk on them like that.
Lucy forces herself to breathe out and relax her shoulder. When she felt she could handle herself, she turns around to face the pinkette, who was now fully half-naked with his boxers sticking out.
"I may not be your real girlfriend, but I should at least be comfortable with…this," Lucy says as fans her hand over his body.
"And you should…because?" Natsu curiously asks as he slowly walks closer to the blonde, who took a step back but stopped herself to move any further. As he stood close to the blonde with their shoes touching one another, Natsu looks down at the smaller woman and gave a mischievous smile to her.
"Because they know that I have…" Lucy suddenly runs her hand over Natsu's stomach, and she could feel it contract in her touch, "Seen this," she softly whispers that Natsu almost missed it. But then Lucy suddenly pinches his side, causing him to shriek and bend over as he felt ticklish.
Lucy suddenly laughs as she sees the reddened face of the pinkette, who gawked at her in surprise. Soon enough, the man laughed along with her before he wavers a finger at her, "Oh, you sneaky little vixen,"
Lucy gave a smug look at the man before she shrugs her shoulder, "Well, get used to it,"
"I'll try," Natsu replies as he smiles back at her before he turns around to finish his undressing.
Lucy immediately turns away too and settles on the bed instead. As she rests her legs on the bed, she saw the pinkette enter his walk-in closet but that didn't stop her to make conversation.
"So, what was your mother talking about? What is this planning for?"
Natsu leans backward to see the blonde relaxing on his bed, "Um, it's like a tradition…but mostly it's just a family summer outing," he then disappears within the open closet.
"Oh…so, nothing bad I guess," Lucy tilts her head as she waits for the pinkette to lean over again.
Natsu leans over again and had a complicated look, "I wouldn't say it's good…" he then stands up straight and steps out into view wearing a different pair of pants, "In fact…it can be quite the worst kind of tradition,"
"Worst?" Lucy exclaims as she gawks at the pinkette, "What do you mean the worst tradition?"
"Well," Natsu walks toward his bed and settles on the bed next to the blonde, "There are that summer activities but beneath all that, the mothers use it as an excuse to interrogate anyone new in the family,"
"New?" Lucy confusingly looked at the man next to her, who was now lying down on the bed. Somehow, feeling envious, she copies him and lies down, and turns to her side, "I'm now part of the family?"
Natsu snorts, "Don't be excited. Mom's influencing everyone in the family that you are not good for me. So, everyone, as in all my relatives will find a way to talk to you and get to know you, both good and bad side…well, mostly bad side,"
Lucy just stares at the pinkette as she takes in the information. She wasn't naïve that Grandine accepts her wholeheartedly. She's probably at the top list of her most hated people. But then, to use the whole clan to scrutinize a woman or a man who joins the family is quite too much.
"Did Erra go on this vacation?" Lucy curiously asks but softly that Natsu barely heard it.
The pinkette didn't answer immediately as he recalls that time. Remembering that summer vacation was one of his best vacations with his loved ones. Everybody loved Erra. She was the perfect girl for him until they discovered that it was all an act.
"She did…but she wasn't interrogated. It was more like a welcome celebration," Natsu sighs exasperatedly as he stares at the ceiling before he turns to his side and stares back at the warm-brown eyes of the blonde. "I'm sorry you'll get the worst treatment from my family."
Lucy shrugs her shoulders, making her scootch closer to the pinkette. Their hands were brushing one another, breaths fanning their faces, "It's okay…I somehow expected it, knowing your past. At least, I'm aware and I know that I should expect something,"
Natsu smiles at Lucy as he felt his eyes droop in tiredness. He hasn't felt this comfortable in a long time. He hums in reply to the blonde as he lets himself close his eyes. He then mumbles, "Thanks,"
Gathered in the sunroom, Grandine, her sisters, and her sister-in-law, sat down on the large couch at the center of the room. The sun was up but the view of the garden was a sight for sore eyes, especially after that little display of affection that Grandine and the others saw.
"Are you sure that the two are not in love?" Sefera asked as she looks at the blue-haired woman, who was scowling over her teacup. "I've never seen Natsu as affectionate as that since—"
"Don't dare to mention her name." Grandine cuts off as she glared at the pink-haired woman. Sighing in annoyance, Grandine puts down her cup before she stands and roams around the place. "I have this…feeling that something is odd about the two,"
"Feeling?" Sefera repeats, almost sounding like she wants to laugh, "So, it's just some hunches? And we're going to corner that actress because of some hunches you have,"
"It's not just a hunch," Grandine replies as she turns to her best friend and then looks at her sisters, who were skeptically looking back at her as well, "I asked someone to investigate them,"
"Again?" Grasia, the second daughter of the Marvell family and wife of Skiadrum Cheney, asks with a raised brow. She then puts down her cup as she shook her head at her older sister, "Dine, you know that if Natsu figures this out, he'd be devasted,"
"I bet he has already," Grizela comments as she smirks at her sisters, "Why do you think the two acted that way?"
"Are you saying that the two are just acting?" Sefera questioned with a skeptical look at the youngest Marvell daughters.
"I don't know," Grizela shakes her shoulders in dismissal, "But if I would guess, the two are aware that someone has been investigating them and they refuse to be left alone with us,"
Grandine looks at her sister, nearly growling at her for the insinuation, but it was the truth, and she was in no position to retort.
"So, what do you suggest that I do?" Grandine asks calmly, which stunned the three women before her.
"Seriously, Dine?" Sefera counters before she chuckles in disbelief, "You will insist that someone follows your son and Lucy."
"You are all aware that Lucy is not just some actress." Grandine walks towards the group, "She is a Heartfilia, who could be working along with her father, who is notorious for making deals with his associates."
"That's it? Just because of Jude?" Grasia then looks at Sefera, who shrugs her shoulders and slumps back on the couch in defeat, "Why don't you just confront the girl and talk about it,"
"Oh, how I wish it was that simple my sister," Grandine sighs before she takes her seat again and sips her tea, "Apparently, the two have been lying as well,"
"Lying?"
Grandine nods her head at her sister while she puts down her cup. She then looks at each of them, "My intel told me that Lucy and her previous boyfriend broke up not even a month after they say they met. Would any of you believe that someone can easily fall in love with another person in a span of two weeks or so after ending a long-term relationship?"
The ladies were quiet, contemplating and considering the blue-haired woman's point. Natsu and Lucy looked deeply in love as if they had gone through tough times already. But knowing their nephew, it seemed, indeed, odd.
"Okay," Sefera sighs in defeat, "Let's say that your hunches do have a basis. But is this really worth it, Dine? You know that you and your son haven't really patched things up since then."
Grandine looks down at her cup, remembering the shouts and painful crying they had when everything went haywire. She swallows the growing lump in her throat as she felt her eyes sting. But she refuses to cry over that. It has been two years already and she had hoped that somehow, they have fixed their relationship. But she would be too gullible to believe that.
"It's worth it if it means protecting my son from repeating his mistake," Grandine sternly looks at her sister-in-law, who nods in understanding.
The ladies then were silent. They all have mixed feelings about this. Grandine and Grizela seemed to be on the same side, while Sefera and Grasia had reservations. They know that doing this private investigation is not the best option, but seeing how unyielding Grandine is with her plans, they are left with no choice but to help and just make sure to keep everything from making things worse.
"How sure are you that Jude Heartfilia will not take offense in this?" Grasia suddenly asks as she breaks the silence.
"Don't worry about him," Grandine gave a tight-lipped smile, "He hasn't shown up to any of our events, hasn't reached out, and hasn't made his presence known to the public. He's being carefully watched as well,"
Feeling comfortable in her position, Lucy scooted closer to the warmth that enveloped her. She sighs in contentment as she was tugged closer to whatever she was lying on. It was firm and warm, but it was comforting that Lucy didn't feel like opening her eyes yet. She then hugs the firm pillow closer to her body as she breathes out in relaxation.
Suddenly, she hears some soft mumbling and Lucy remained still to hear out her surrounding, but nothing came again. So, she sighs again, only to hear another mumbling. At that sound, she slowly opens her eyes and tries to figure out where she was. She then remembers she was at the Dragneel Manor, in Natsu's bedroom, and was talking to Natsu.
It suddenly became clear to Lucy, making her eyes grow wide in surprise. She slowly looks up and sees the most attractive sleeping face she'd ever seen. But that admiration quickly changed into a horrifying realization. She looked down at their position and sees that she was wrapped around the pinkette. She had her arms draped around Natsu's waist, and her legs were tangled with his.
Lucy mentally scolds herself as she recalls how much she enjoyed the firm pillow moments ago, only to know that she was already hugging the man in her sleep.
"Oh my god!" Lucy mouthed before she tries to untangle her legs with the pinkette and slowly lifts her arm. She tries to sit up only to be pulled forward when Natsu tightens his hold on her shoulder. She suddenly falls on top of Natsu with her face tucked to the side of his neck.
With this proximity and nearly intimate position, Lucy couldn't help but feel her cheeks warm. It has been quite a long time since she slept with a man on a bed. She's not even talking about intercourse, just the act of sleeping. And she had forgotten how comforting and intimate it was for her.
Natsu was mumbling in his sleep again, making Lucy chuckle a little. It was adorable to see the pinkette like this. She shouldn't be able to see this side of him, but here she is, seeing the man in one of the intimate moments of a couple.
The pinkette then starts to run his hand up and down her arm before it slips to her waist and stops by her hips, just below the ends of her blouse. When Lucy starts to feel the warmth of Natsu's hand touch her skin, she suddenly whispers his name.
Natsu's hand quickly stops moving as if he was shaken awake by the call of his name. But the pinkette wasn't fully awake. He was still trying to figure out if he was just dreaming or if someone was calling him. Lucy then calls his name again, which made the man stir in his sleep.
As Natsu pulls his arms away from the blonde to stretch out his limbs, Lucy immediately sits up and fixes herself. She sat at the edge of the bed and looked back at the pinkette to see if he'd wake up, but the man just returned to his slumber.
Shaking her head, Lucy chuckles to herself before she stands up to roam around the room. It was late afternoon already. They had skipped lunch. She wonders if any of the family members or maids dropped by to call them.
Lucy shook her head again as she sets that thought aside. Looking back at Natsu one more time, the pinkette was still sleeping, occupying the whole bed. She smiles at him before walking towards his walk-in closet to grab a shirt she can change into. It's probably stepping boundaries, but she thought she would need to sell their relationship to everyone in the household.
When she was done changing, Lucy got startled when she saw Natsu standing by the entrance of the walk-in closet.
"Natsu!" Lucy scolds as she clutches her chest, "Why do you always do that? You could have made a sound so that I know you're awake,"
"You do realize that there is a mirror over there and I could see you change," Natsu completely ignores the rant of the blonde as he points at the mirror instead.
Lucy whips to look at what Natsu was pointing. Seeing the mirror, Lucy's eyes grew wide as she realized that Natsu may have watched her.
"Did you just watch me?!" Lucy bellows as she turns to look at the pinkette again, who was smirking at her displeasure.
Natsu then laughs when Lucy's face turns red in furious, "No, I did not. You were done when I saw your back in the mirror,"
Lucy grumbles at the amused face of the president before she rolls her eyes and walks past him, "It's late afternoon, maybe I can go home,"
"I doubt that" Natsu replies as he follows the blonde to the balcony of his room, "Given that we didn't join them at the meeting and lunch, they would most likely insist that we join them for dinner,"
"Dinner?" Lucy repeats with annoyance in her voice, "Can't we just skip that too? Your relatives could still be here,"
"No, they won't," Natsu counters. Lucy suddenly smiles at the good news but seeing the unfazed look of the pinkette, she knew she celebrated too early, "But my whole family would be here. Zeref and Wendy,"
"Your siblings?"
"Yeah," Natsu then shrugs his shoulders, "I guess that's better than having my three aunts watch and interrogate us. At least, it would only be Mom who would be keen to dig up stories about us,"
Before Lucy could even react, a loud knock was heard, making the two turn to look at the door. Soon enough a maid spoke and checked if they were awake. When Natsu approved, the maid opens the door and informs them that early dinner will be served.
"Thank you. We'll join them at the garden," Natsu gave a small smile at the maid before she bows and leaves the room. He then turns to look at the actress, "Ready?"
"Let's get it done," Lucy says as she breathes out her nervousness and lets the president entwine their hands as he pulls her out of the room.
Sitting around with her parents and siblings is not something new for Wendy. Every Sunday, their family would gather to have a hearty meal. There are weekends that one of her brothers wouldn't be able to come and for the past two weeks, Natsu had been absent because of his work. So, when she heard that her brother had arrived back in Magnolia, and is in fact at the Manor, she couldn't help but be thrilled to spend time with him.
But as soon as Wendy sees her brother, walking hand in hand with Lucy Ashley, the blunette couldn't contain her excitement as she shrieked out loud.
"Oh, my goodness!" Wendy bellows as she gets up from her chair and nearly sprints to meet her brother and his girlfriend, "I did not know that you were here too!" Wendy suddenly hugs the blonde, who was stunned at the warm welcome.
"Oh," Lucy gasps as they pulled apart, "It's nice to see you, Wendy. I'm sorry if we didn't show up earlier,"
"No that's fine!" Wendy then sniggers when she saw her brother chuckle at her enthusiasm, "If you did, you probably would have gone home, and I wouldn't be able to catch the two of you,"
"Why? Did you just come in?" Natsu asks as he pats the head of the bluenette.
"Yeah, I had this group study for tomorrow's presentation in school. I couldn't miss it," Wendy then sighs in exhaustion before she shakes her head as if dispelling her tiredness, "Anyways, it's great to have family dinners and to have you with us," Wendy says as she turns her attention to the blonde.
Wendy suddenly pulls Lucy and they walked ahead of the pinkette. Natsu just laughed as he trailed behind the girls. It was nice to know that at least there was one family member who was more thrilled to have Lucy around than find her presence suspicious. Natsu then looked over at the table and saw that his brother was there already.
Zeref was on the phone when the girls arrived at the table. As soon as he heard Wendy animatedly talking to someone, he looked up and saw the guest of the Manor. He had been told that a guest was present, but no one named the person as it seemed like it was a surprise. Seeing Lucy Ashley aka Lucy Heartfilia that night was indeed a surprise.
"Good evening, Ms. Lucy," Zeref says as he puts down his phone and stands to greet her, "It's nice to see you here,"
"Doctor Zeref," Lucy mutters as she smiles to hide her nervousness, "I'm glad to be here…and join all of you for dinner,"
Natsu finally stands next to the blonde and wraps an arm around Lucy's waist. He kept his gaze on his brother, who regarded him with a question in his eyes. But Natsu just smiled at him and said, "Zeref,"
"Natsu," Zeref apathetically greets back before he shrugs his shoulder and takes his seat again.
When the others had taken their seats, Zeref immediately looks back at Natsu as if he was mentally talking to him. But the pink-haired president wouldn't relent and just gave a blank look. Lucy immediately notices the hard stare of the black-haired doctor on Natsu. So, acting upon instinct, Lucy broke the silence and talked to Wendy.
"So, Wendy, what school do you go to?" Lucy turns in her seat to look at the younger Dragneel.
"Oh, Magnolia Institute of Medicine," Wendy answers with a smile, "I'm a second-year med student already,"
"That's great!" Lucy then looks at Natsu over her shoulder, "It seems like your siblings are all in the field of medicine except for you,"
Natsu snorts at the comment, "Well, I'm good being a patient,"
Lucy and Wendy then looked at one another before they laughed together. "Is your brother reckless?"
"Oh, trust me, he's our constant patient here. Mom always scolds him whenever he gets bruises after school," Wendy then sniggers when she hears her brother groan.
"That was high school," Natsu irately mutters but no one paid him attention as the girls just kept laughing.
"You were worse in college," Zeref suddenly added, making Lucy turn her attention to the doctor.
"Why? What was Natsu like in college?" Lucy asked with a glint in her eyes before glancing at the pinkette next to her.
"Oh, he was a troublemaker," Wendy remarks as she nods her head in remembrance of those days, "Mom and Dad had been called by the college dean telling them that Natsu-nii had set a laboratory on fire,"
"It was an accident," Natsu mumbles as he notices the gawking look of the blonde. He then looks at her with an exasperated look, "My lab partner had put in a chemical that wasn't in the formula. It just so happens that I was the one pouring the last reagent before it blew off and caused a small fire,"
Lucy chuckles at the pinkette before giving him a dubious look, "A small fire? Really?"
"Yeah," Natsu then pouts when the blonde wouldn't believe him, "My idiot lab partner just made things worse by panicking and running around the laboratory when his lab gown got caught in fire,"
Zeref stifles his laughter, making the blonde look at him, "Well when you tell the story like that it seems like you didn't enjoy what happened,"
"I didn't," Natsu counters but it only made Zeref smile further.
"Right, that's why you were caught laughing when your partner was running around the lab,"
The trio then laughs as Natsu groans in annoyance for being ganged up. Soon enough, their laughter had been cut short when someone cleared their throat.
Looking at the other side of the table, Zeref and Wendy quickly stood up as soon as they saw their parents, aunts, and uncles and greet them. Natsu and Lucy had their eyes grow wide at the sudden bigger group before them.
Lucy whips her head to the pinkette and whispered furiously, "You said they'd gone home,"
"Well," Natsu glares back at the actress, "Apparently, they are still here." He then stood up and urged the blonde to do the same thing. He then leans close to Lucy's ear, "Just smile," and Lucy did so.
…|…||…|…
"I'd like to propose a toast,"
Everyone looks at the blue-haired Marvell-Dragneel, who had her wine glass raised. Soon enough, everyone did the same and waited for Grandine to begin her speech.
"It's a rare occasion that both the Marvell and Dragneel family sits together for a simple family dinner. Usually, we get together when there is a business event. So, I am glad to have my loved one around me tonight." Grandine then tilts her head as she looks at Lucy, who stiffens at the sudden attention, "And Lucy, I'm glad to spend this time with you."
Lucy courteously bows her head to Grandine.
"It may be a surprise that a newcomer to the family is joining us. Gajeel, Sting, and Rogue may not be here tonight, but I am definitely happy to have you all with me." Grandine then looks at her husband, who was intently looking and listening to her. She places her hand on Igneel's open palm, who quickly smiles at her, "Igneel had told me one night how he misses spending days with family. Since everyone had become busy with their work and business, we had forgotten the meaning of our traditional summer vacation."
Everyone except Natsu and Lucy smiled at the memory of going on summer vacations. The two looked at one another briefly before paying attention to the blunette again.
"So," Grandine suddenly stands and looks at her sisters and best friend. They smiled at each other with shine in their eyes, emanating their excitement and delight at the plan they have made, "Next weekend, our whole families will be going on a summer vacation at the Tenrou Island for a whole week."
Wendy suddenly gasps in interest, catching the actress' attention. Lucy gently taps on Wendy's shoulder to ask, "What's with Tenrou Island?"
"Oh, our family has a beach house there. It's a beautiful island with a small town. It's quite a private island but our ancestors lived there, and it's always been our second home." Wendy then leans closer to Lucy, "Not everyone gets to go there. Usually, it's only for family," she then winks at her before looking back at her mother.
Lucy glances at Natsu over her shoulder but the pinkette kept his gaze on his mother. When Lucy thought that Natsu wouldn't be looking back at her, she turned her head away to listen again, only to be surprised when Natsu grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it.
"Obviously, everyone here at the table is expected to be joining." Grandine then looks at Zeref with a smirk on her face, "And I mean it, Zeref. Tell your secretary that you will be taking a leave next week. I won't hear a no,"
"Yes, Mom," Zeref complyingly agrees with a smile on his face.
"Oh, and please, bring Mavis along," Grandine then chortles when Zeref turned shy for a second before nodding his head. "As for you Wendy,"
"Mom, I have summer classes, but I'll see what I can do," The younger blunette then smiles back at her mother.
When Grandine looks at Natsu, everyone at the table except his siblings, looked back at him. They were alternatingly looking at him and Lucy as if waiting if an unexpected drama would spark.
"Natsu? Lucy?" Grandine gave a gentle smile, "I'm expecting that you both will set time for this."
"Mom—" Natsu begins but quickly stops when Grandine shook her head.
"As I said, I won't hear no," Grandine then looks at Lucy, making the blonde nervous at the sudden attention of everyone at the table, "You wouldn't say no too, Lucy. Right?"
Breathing out her nerves, Lucy could only mentally curse her stars as she sees how Grandine was trying to control her again. She could display some little attitude, but she knows that doing so right now wouldn't help her and Natsu at all. So, she smiles and nods her head.
"Of course. I'm honored to be invited to your family's summer vacation." Lucy then looks at Natsu with a bright smile, "I can't wait to get to know the family of my love,"
"Then it's set," Grandine smirks back at Lucy and Natsu before glancing at everyone at the table, "To our grandest summer vacation!"
"To our grandest summer vacation!" all of them cheered enthusiastically except, of course, Natsu and Lucy.
To be continued…