10 - all of her friends stuck up their nose
"Where were you last night?"
Natsu sat outside the school gym watching YouTube on his phone. He looked up at the new voice to find Gray looking down at him. Juvia clutched his arm and two of their friends, Jerome and Briar, flanked them on either side.
"Huh?"
"You didn't come home." Gray dropped his bag and slid down the wall to take a seat next to Natsu. Juvia followed suit, but Jerome and Briar didn't stick around. "Me and Gajeel got back late, everyone was asleep. But you weren't home."
"I told you I was going to Lucy's."
"So… you guys-"
"No! No. Lucy's not that kind of girl." Natsu took a bite of his sandwich. "She's nice."
"You with a good girl… okay." Gray stood up. "Stop skipping class."
"I'm taking an early lunch!" Natsu called. As Gray continued down the hall, Natsu noticed Juvia hadn't left. "You have something to say?" Natsu asked the staring girl.
"Whatever leaves Juvia with less competition." Her lips curved into a content smile, and she trotted after her boyfriend.
"Okay…" Natsu's phone dinged with a notification as he was left alone again.
Lucy: Are you free this afternoon?
Natsu: wywd?
Lucy: ?
Natsu: what u wanna do
Lucy: Say that!
Lucy: I wanna buy us Halloween costumes
Lucy: will u match me?
Natsu grinned at the message.
Natsu: hell yeah
Lucy: Meet me at my dance studio at 3 3
Natsu's phone clicked off as he tucked it away. He gathered his things and headed to class. Three o'clock couldn't come faster.
Ballet practice went smoothly, as usual. Lucy was glad her friends had enough sense to not bother her about Natsu. She'd been bringing him around more often. Post ballet hangouts and random weekend outings became the times she most looked forward to. The rumours and talk slowed once people began to accept that Lucy Heartfilia was unavailable.
All anyone wanted to know now is who he is. Not a Magnolia Prep student, not related to anyone of name, and a topic Lucy was very tight-lipped about. Even her closest friends were kept just out of reach from meeting him.
What did it matter anyway? Her private life was her business and no one else's.
"So, are we never going to mention the elephant in the room?"
And the grace period came to an end.
"What elephant?"
"Your boyfriend."
"The one with pink hair!"
"Um…" Lucy stopped mid turn to meet the gossip hungry gazes of Lisanna and Yukino.
"You've been with him instead of us every afternoon for the past two weeks, and you still won't introduce us."
"Why do I need to?"
"Because you're our best friend!"
"Luuucccyyyy!"
The whining and crying ended as quickly as it started. Lucy gave in to the pleading looks of her friends, and promised they could say hello when he comes to pick her up.
The end of class came too fast, and Lucy's phone pinged. Lisanna was quick to snatch it and catch a glimpse of an 'I'm outside' text. The two ballerinas didn't even bother to put on jackets before running outside, stopping excitedly in front of the pink-haired skateboard-wielding man waiting by the door. Lucy grabbed her bag and chased them outside.
"Hi, I'm Yukino!" The girl looked like she was about to start bouncing on the spot.
"I'm Lisanna Strauss," she twirled a fallen strand of her messy bun and flashed a smile. "We're Lucy's friends. And you must be—"
Lucy stepped in before Natsu could answer. "Yukino, Lisanna… this is Natsu. My boyfriend."
"Nice to meet 'ya." He offered an upward nod as a greeting. Yukino's face scrunched. Lisanna visibly winced.
"Natsu, huh…"
"At least we finally have a name to 'Lucy's mysterious BF'."
Natsu laughed awkwardly, and Lucy shot her friends a warning look. She picked up her school bag from beside her leg and handed it to Natsu. "Can you wait out here for a bit? We just finished practice; I have to change."
"Sure thing." Natsu swung Lucy's bag over his shoulder and took a seat on the sidewalk. Lucy went to the dressing room with Lisanna and Yukino, who had suddenly gotten suspiciously quiet.
"So, um, about Natsu…"
"He's so sweet, isn't he? He comes all the way over here just to walk me home." Lucy swooned, pulling spare clothes out of her dance bag.
"He comes over here? So, he's really from the Eastside?" Lisanna asked.
"He is… why?"
"I thought that was a joke." Yukino murmured.
"You don't think that's a problem?" Lisanna pressed.
"Why would it be a problem?" Lucy crossed her arms.
"You know, they say a lot about the Eastside. It's dangerous. There's, like, a lot of drug stuff—"
"—and graffiti," Yukino cut in.
"I don't think they have a lot of money…"
"…and it's dirty."
"What are you saying?" Lucy cut them off.
"We're saying we don't think he's good for you, Lucy!" Lisanna raised her voice, clearing her throat as glances came her direction.
"Are you serious? You haven't even really met him!" Lucy fired back. Neither girl responded. Her two closest friends turned their backs on her after looking down on her boyfriend because of where he grew up. "What's the difference between East and West? We're all from Magnolia. Is it because we have to cross a bridge? Because of the cities we border? Why can't we all just be from Magnolia?"
"Don't get mad because you know we're right!"
Lucy slammed her dance locker shut. The loud noise quieted the other dancers in the room, and more lingering glances came their way. Lucy shot a disappointed look at her friends before stuffing her clean clothes back in her dance bag and storming out of the studio. She found Natsu immediately.
She was glad she wore leggings today.
"What happened? Not changing again?"
"Let's just head back early. We can get costumes this weekend." Lucy shivered as the Autumn wind hit her. Her leotard had long sleeves, but they were too thin to shield her arms from the chilly air. Natsu tugged off his hoodie and handed it to her. Lucy held it for a moment, stunned that he noticed. "Won't you be cold?"
"I run hot anyway. Besides, if you get sick you can't dance, right?"
"Right. Not like Madame Minerva would accept it as an excuse anyway." Lucy grumbled and tugged on her boyfriend's hoodie.
It was the warmest she'd ever felt.
Natsu didn't ask for his hoodie back after bringing Lucy home.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Natsu asked as Lucy climbed the steps to her front door. She melted inside. He could even tell when she was upset.
"I'm fine." Lucy smiled. It was genuine. His presence was enough to make her happy. "Hey, Natsu?"
"Yeah?"
"I really like you."
"I really like you more." He grinned. Lucy felt her face heat up. "See you Saturday."
"Yeah! See you then."
"Goodnight, Luce." Natsu headed back down the path to her gate. Lucy pushed her front door shut, hugging herself in his warmth and taking a deep breath as her heart sped up.
Luce… she was Luce now.
That night, as Lucy made herself comfortable in bed, her phone buzzed. She snatched it from her nightstand with lightning speed, hoping to see a certain name. Her face fell, though, seeing a singular text from Lisanna Strauss.
Lis: Skype?
Lucy glanced towards the laptop sitting on her bay window. She hesitated to leave the comfort of her bed for it, but the least she could do was hear her friend out after the events of the day. She let out a huff of annoyance as she tossed her duvet aside and opened her computer. Shoving in her earbuds, she logged on to Skype.
Sure enough, a call invite was waiting with Lisanna and Yukino. Lucy bit her cheek as she joined.
"Girls, before you say anything I need you to know my privacy is my privacy."
"Lucy, we're so sorry!" Yukino cried out.
"We really weren't trying to hurt your feelings or his. We just want the best for you, you know? We're really sorry." Lisanna offered.
Lucy couldn't stop the smile tugging at her lips. "Well, thank you. I honestly was not expecting an apology."
"Lisanna and I felt so embarrassed after you left ballet. We realised it's not our place to judge you or your boyfriend, and we realised we probably sound no different than our parents."
"I don't know what to say. I really appreciate the apology."
"We promise to watch our words. Also, we want to apologise to Natsu." Yukino added.
"Um, I think it's okay. I don't think Natsu even knows what happened."
"Still, we'd feel horrible if we didn't. Do you have Halloween plans?" Lisanna asked.
Lucy thought for a moment. "Well, no. We're going to get costumes this weekend."
"Mira is throwing a Halloween party. It's supposed to be, like, a complete rager. It's on the Eastside too. You guys should totally come."
"I guess. I'll see if Natsu has plans." Lucy yawned. "I need to sleep. I have a test first period tomorrow. Thank you so much for this, girls. I'm really glad this didn't turn into a big thing. Goodnight." Lucy swore she heard the sound of someone else joining right as she left the call, but she could've been dreaming it.
She was going to sleep so good tonight.
"So, what did she say?"
"She'll bring him to the party. But what are you planning?"
"Nothing at all. I just wanna talk to the guy."
"When she chews you out, just leave our names out of it, okay?"
"She won't, but sure. Later."
The call ended.