9 – secretly she wanted him as well
Lucy stared at the TV nervously, clutching a bowl of chips. The character on screen let out a bloodcurdling scream when blood pooled around her as she tried to escape approaching footsteps. Lucy threw a hand up to her mouth as the fictional nurse was stabbed repeatedly. The screen switched to another nurse who had fled the scene and was hiding restlessly among an assemblage of dead bodies. She jumped when the woman accidently pushed over one of the corpses, causing a loud thud.
"No, no, no..." She murmured, hugging the bowl closer. The volume of the music was increasing, and Lucy was bracing for the jump scare. Sure enough, the killer appeared in front of the girl as she turned around. At the same time, someone whisper-yelled in her ear and grabbed her shoulders. Lucy screamed louder than the actress, jumping and sending the chips flying. "Oh my god!" Lucy grabbed a handful of fallen Doritos and threw them at her boyfriend. Natsu had collapsed laughing.
"That was- ha ha ha! Too good! Oh, fuck, you should've seen your face." Natsu sat up and snatched some chips off the floor, grinning as Lucy seethed.
"You are not funny!" She grabbed the remote and switched the projector off, making a break for the light switch by her media room door. "No more horror movies. Ever!"
"But Halloween is peak. You'd like the originals. So much better than these remakes." Lucy shuddered at the thought of having to sit through an older version of the same scary films. Natsu grinned at the expression on her face and looked around the room. "God, I still can't believe you have your own fucking movie theatre." The screen was almost as big as the ones at the actual movies, and the giant room had red carpets, massaging recliners, and a popcorn machine. Though Lucy had said it was just for decoration.
"I can't even remember the last time I watched movies in here. Lots of stuff in this house goes to waste, I'm not usually allowed to have people over."
"Oh? So I'm the rare exception." Natsu smirked, moving closer to his girlfriend.
"You are no exception." Lucy shoved him away. "You are so lucky my parents are out of town and Capricorn agreed not to tell."
"They need to leave more often. I wanna hang out with you more." Lucy blushed at her boyfriend's casual words.
"You know what I just realized?" Lucy asked. Natsu tilted his head. "We've been dating for two weeks, and you've been here a few times now, but I've never been to your house." Lucy didn't miss the flash of dread across her boyfriend's face.
"I don't think you wanna come to my place."
"Is it a mess? I promise I won't mind."
"The mess is probably the least of the problems..." Natsu's eyes narrowed as he thought of his home environment. The permanent stench of tobacco and cat litter, the yelling and fighting above the sound of trains that run every hour on the track right outside, not to mention the lack of clothes from residents and guests... Not a place Lucy would enjoy.
"I wanna go! We can go right now. Perfect opportunity, my parents are gone all weekend. I could stay the night even..."
"Nope, no nights. I don't trust that fucking stripper or the metal bastard."
"Stripper? Who-"
"Alright, we can go to my place. I'm warning you now though, they're a little crazy." Natsu started towards the door.
"Wait, let me grab my purse! Who's crazy?"
"Welcome to the Fairy House!" Natsu stopped in front of the corner unit of a long building, smiling proudly as he presented the home. It was directly next to the train tracks and looked to be leaning ever so slightly, but there was a certain charm to it Lucy loved.
"Oh, it's so cute! Do you live here alone?"
"Alone? Ha, I wish. You're about to meet everyone, hold tight."
"Wait, I'm meeting your family already? Am I presentable? What do I say to your parents?" Lucy dug through her purse for lip gloss, wanting to look nice for her first impression.
"I don't got parents. Just a shit load of siblings."
When Natsu let her in, Lucy expected to see the average family room. The exterior of the house was a little dirty and unkept, but the house itself was a good size. It had three floors from what she could see and could be mistaken for an apartment. But Lucy had always known never to judge a book by its cover. Maybe what's grungy on the outside is beautiful within.
Boy, was she wrong.
The front door was kicked open to reveal a dark living room, the windows were sheathed by blackout curtains and the only source of light came from some low brightness bulbs in a couple of lamps scattered around the main room.
The floors were rotting hardwood, and the walls were stained with various substances Lucy couldn't identify. She was tempted to pull out the surgical mask she kept in her purse, but she didn't want to offend her boyfriend.
"I'M HOME FUCKERS!" Natsu shouted.
"SHUT UP!" Someone Lucy couldn't see shouted from an upper floor.
"YOU SHUT UP!"
"STOP YELLING." This voice was female, Lucy noted. So, he had sisters and brothers. How many though?
"IT'S TOO EARLY FOR THIS!" Lucy checked her watch. It was a quarter to three.
"IT'S PAST NOON!" Many different voices began flooding the house with varying levels of energy.
"So, you're probably confused." Natsu smoothly caught his girlfriend's tense hand in his, making her relax. "I live here with fifteen other people. I don't know who's here and who's not right now, but everyone's pretty chill. And they're gonna love you."
"Okay." Lucy breathed a smile. He sure knew how to make her feel safe. "I can't wait to meet them." Natsu grinned before pressing his hands over her ears. She raised an eyebrow in confusion before his mouth opened to yell.
"I BROUGHT A GUEST SO YOU FUCKERS BETTER BE ON YOUR BEST BEHAVIOR!" Lucy still heard the yell, but she was grateful for his gesture to muffle the volume. Once he released her, she heard the pattering of feet from all directions. Brighter lights began to switch on and from the corner of Lucy's eye she saw someone's head lift from the couch she thought was empty. Someone also appeared from a doorway beside her.
How were so many people around and she didn't even realise?
Two girls were the first to approach. One girl in an apron with short cut purple hair tied into a low ponytail. The other a stunning redhead who Lucy thought was familiar before realising she was the armoured girl skating at the front of the pack the day she met Natsu.
"Hi, I'm Kinana!" The apron wearing girl gave a small wave and a welcoming smile which Lucy happily returned.
"I'm Erza. You must be the new girlfriend Natsu's been raving on and on about?"
"That's me!" Lucy said nervously. Natsu had run off somewhere, leaving her alone to speak to all these strangers. Lucy was confident in her speaking skills, at least. It couldn't be too difficult to greet everyone. "I'm Lucy Heartfilia. It's nice to meet you."
"Heartfilia? Like, the Heartfilia on the tracks?" Lucy didn't even notice the two new figures who had appeared beside her, jumping slightly at the new voice. The man who asked had his tongue partially stuck out, displaying a dark tattoo that matched that of her boyfriends. A surprisingly stylish man with long green hair looked at her curiously from beside him.
"Um..." Lucy didn't respond before feeling something rub against her leg. She jumped, holding back a scream before looking down to see a small blue cat. "Aww!" She bent down to pick up the small animal which promptly licked her cheek as she picked it up. "You're the cutest ever!"
"That's Happy. Natsu's cat. He's super friendly." The green-haired man spoke.
"Watch out for Charle, the white one. She'll scratch the hell out of you." The redhead, Erza, warned.
Lucy scanned the room for this white cat. Sure enough, the creature sat on a nearby cart. She'd never felt so judged by an animal in her life. If cats could speak, Lucy was sure this one would have the most vicious words.
Apparently, she stared too hard as the cat jumped down and stalked towards her. She hissed at the blonde, and Happy began to squirm in her grasp. A young girl with dark blue twin tails came over and picked up the hissing cat, giving Lucy an apologetic smile as she stroked Charle's fur until she calmed down. "Hi, I'm Wendy."
"Lucy."
"I'm the one who told Natsu to text you, he was way too chicken to—"
"Okay, good talk." Natsu reappeared and shoved Wendy away, who tumbled to the side with a yelp. Charle tumbled down with her and hissed at Natsu before running off, Happy leaped out of Lucy's arms to follow. Natsu grabbed Lucy by the hand and led her towards the stairs. "We'll be in the room." Lots of yelling came in response.
"Door stays open." Erza called.
"Clothes stay on!" Someone slurred.
"Stay off Gajeel's bed!" A deep voice demanded.
Natsu slammed the door before anymore crude comments could come through. He sighed and leaned against the door as Lucy explored the room. It was small, about the size of her closet, but very cute. There was a bunkbed and a single on the back wall. A cluttered desk on the left wall, and some music equipment on the right. She walked over to the instruments. There were two cool looking electric guitars hanging on the wall and an acoustic one laying on the floor next to a disassembled drum kit. A keyboard was dangerously positioned against the wall, looking like it could collapse at a strong gust of wind.
"Are all these yours?" Lucy asked.
"Huh? Oh, nah. The keyboard is mine. And the red Ibanez." He pointed to one of the mounted electric guitars. "The drums are Gajeel's, he's in this room too. The other guitars are my friend Cobra's, but he's between houses right now so he's keeping his stuff here."
"Oh." Lucy ran a hand along the edge of the leaning keyboard. "I didn't know you played."
"Yeah, always been a hobby of mine." Natsu opened a small folding table grabbed from under the bed and positioned the piano on top. "I, uh, lost the old stand." He offered a quick explanation. Lucy smiled in understanding, taking a seat on the peeling pleather desk chair.
Natsu played a song. It was soft and sweet with a quick tempo, but a hint of underlying sadness. It started with short low notes, a simple melody gradually coming in. The chord repeated with an increase in volume, the melody switched to lower notes. Lucy melted into the sound. "Trapdoor. Great song." He said as the chord came to an end.
"You're amazing."
Natsu grinned. He's so pretty. Lucy thought. She leaned in, and he leaned in too. And right as they got close, the door swung open.
"This is the girl?" A drunken voice spoke. Lucy and Natsu separated quickly. The intruder was a pretty brunette. She was half naked, sashaying over to Lucy and sitting on her lap, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Yo, the fuck is wrong with you?"
The girl reeked of alcohol. Lucy was slightly uncomfortable, but the girl clearly didn't have bad intentions. "Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?" She whined.
"Get off her, Cana." Natsu pulled the girl off. She cried as she fell and her bottle shattered, soaking the floor. "Is this the good Henny?" Natsu asked, picking up the broken bottle.
"It's so good. Try it."
"You just spilled it all." The girl's tears started back up at Natsu's words. He rolled his eyes and dragged her by the underarms outside.
"Bye, blondie! I'm Cana!" She called, blowing a kiss as Natsu slammed the door.
"Time to go?" Natsu asked. Lucy nodded.
"Your family is so lively." Lucy commented on the bus ride back.
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologise! I loved it."
Natsu looked at her in bemusement. "You did?"
"I always wish I had a family like that. You guys can be yourselves around each other. That's so fun."
"Yeah. It's good having a ton of people you can trust."
Lucy hesitated before asking another question. "So, why do you all live together?"
"Technically, it's a foster house. The guy who took us all in, Makarov, let everyone stay even after we all aged out. He doesn't live there, kinda just lets us fend for ourselves. But he's cool, you'll probably meet him."
"What happened to your birth parents?" Lucy pushed. Natsu's face fell. "I'm sorry! Didn't mean to bring up bad memories." She waved her hands apologetically.
"All good. My dad and my aunt, Wendy's mom, went missing when I was a kid. Never saw 'em again." Natsu was silent for a few seconds. "Couple shifts through the system and we ended up at the Fairy House. Wouldn't rather be anywhere else."
"That's really sweet." Lucy squeezed his hand. "Do you want to watch another movie when we get back?"
"Way ahead of you." Natsu unzipped his backpack and whipped out a small stack of DVDs. "Parts one through three and the remake."
"Did you just grab those?" Lucy glanced at a figure in a familiar creepy white mask on one of the covers. She let out a whine. "If you want scary, we could watch Macbeth."
"Nah, you think I'm gonna let you skip Friday the 13th on Friday the 13th? In Halloween month?"
"What's the significance of Friday the 13th?"
"Only the greatest holiday to exist," Natsu sat up. "After Halloween."
"I thought it was supposed to be unlucky."
"Only for the camp counsellors at Crystal Lake."
"What?"
That evening, when the sun began to set, the couple was halfway through the first movie when Lucy decided it was too bloody. She wanted to sleep without nightmares, so she dug out the few stage play film adaptations her parents kept tucked away in the back of the theatre. Natsu didn't like the sound of Macbeth, so they settled on Romeo and Juliet.
Natsu fell asleep before the end of Act I, and Lucy drifted off to the sound of his snoring.
If the staff of the Heartfilia estate coming in to work at the crack of dawn caught a glimpse of a pink-haired boy shuffling down a tree outside Lucy's balcony and sprinting from the premises, they didn't say a word.