don't try this at home

by milkisande

Summary:

There aren't really any universally-agreed upon rules on how someone’s supposed to conduct themselves when they see an ex-relationship in the wild.

All Lucy wants is a new start. But when her new apartment happens to be right next to her ex-boyfriend - who just can't seem to leave her alone - she finds that maybe some things shouldn't just be left in the past.

What Natsu wants, on the other hand, is simple: to get her back.

— For NaLu Week 2025.

Chapter 1: baking / home

Summary:

Lucy tries to move into her new home in peace. Her neighbor starts a baking-related fire.

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“I GUESS THIS is home now.” 

Lucy tiredly flops over her couch, after having spent the better parts of the afternoon unpacking and reorganizing the space inside her new apartment.

It’s a lot smaller than what she’s used to—everything is, really, when you’ve spent basically your entire life in the upper echelons of high society—but after all’s been said and done, Lucy figures that she should just be grateful she’d been given the place at all.

She glances at the time: almost 9:00 PM, by the looks of it. Levy and Erza had left a few hours ago, after her insistence that she could do the rest of it herself (something Lucy instantly regretted, finding that the last few boxes apparently contained all of her heavy-duty belongings). She somehow managed to finish what she dubbed as the important bits, deciding that she could just do the rest at another time. Maybe bribe her friends with snacks to help her out again.

All Lucy truly wants to do now is nap—maybe for the entirety of tomorrow, if her exhaustion is any indication of how the rest of the day is going to go.

At least, that’s the plan, when she hears a sharp pop! through the wall of her apartment, and the unmistakable voice of a man loudly cursing with the panicked clatter of what Lucy assumes are pots or pans. This is quickly followed by a loud beeping, from what she quickly recognizes as that apartment’s smoke detector turning on.

Shit. Lucy thinks with panic, getting up off the couch and almost stumbling over herself to try and find her keys. Just my luck that a fucking fire happens the first day I move in. Just my luck it’s my neighbor too. It’s me. Obvi-fucking-ously. Like I’d have one good day. Damn it.

She releases more than a few expletives, before suddenly hearing a loud and sudden hiss right as she’s about to open the door and bolt. The distinctive sound gives her pause. A fire extinguisher? How the hell did he get one so quickly?

However her neighbor had done it, Lucy then hears the loud slamming open of what she presumes is his window, and a few moments later, the smoke detector noticeably stop its incessant noise.

She stills as the chaos from the other apartment slows to a halt.

Does… Does that mean everything’s okay now?

Lucy warily exits her apartment, glancing outside. The hallways look inexplicably calm—she’s sure that other tenants would’ve heard the smoke alarm go off, yet it remains almost-unnervingly empty. Like she’s the only one who’s taken it seriously. No-one else is evacuating, and from the light she can see under the other doors, everyone else on their floor is simply going about their business as usual.

She hastily types away on her phone:

lu: tf was that
> why is nobody evacuating
> hello???

levy: oh right!
> dont worry lu everythings fine
> we forgot to tell u sorry hehe

lu: ????

Erza Scarlet: Sorry, Lucy. That’s a normal occurrence here.
> The tenants aren’t bothered by it anymore.

lu: fire??????????

levy: they’re not big fires!

lu: idk but that still feels like a BIG DEAL?

Erza Scarlet: It’s the tenant in Apartment 707.
> He’s prone to… accidents. Specifically relating to fire.

lu: is this not a safety issue

Erza Scarlet: We’ve tried to resolve it but it’s impossible. He can’t not set things on fire.

levy: it’s like magic! even when there’s no electronics he still does it somehow!! lowk a talent

lu: …

levy: but don’t worry!! they got him his own fire extinguisher! :D

lu: so youre telling me that he sets fires regularly and the building is just fine with that?

Erza Scarlet: Yes.

levy: yep! he usually puts it out in a few minutes so there’s no problem!!

lu: no i . i definitely think there’s a problem
> even if the building is fine with it how is he allowed to have neighbors
> is being next to him not a huge fire hazard

Erza Scarlet: How do you think you got the apartment so cheap?

lu: …
> i see

levy: don’t worry lu!! gajeel says hes a good guy, just a little dense
> he’ll probably listen if you talk to him!

Lu: okay…

Lucy closes her phone, then breathes heavily. She’s always known that her friends were always a little… eccentric, and they had told her that their building was filled with like-minded people, but still. Residents completely okay with living with what seems like a genuine pyromaniac is not something she’d have ever expected.

Levy likely isn’t as bothered because she doesn’t really live there (though from the amount of times she sleeps over at her boyfriend’s, she might as well be), but Erza throws Lucy off—knowing her as one of the most level-headed people she’s ever known. Her talking about the fire as if it’s no big deal makes Lucy reconsider that maybe she’s the crazy one for thinking it’s weird.

In any case, there’s no way in hell that she’s living with the constant uncertainty and anxiety that her neighbor might one day set her apartment—and her— up in flames.

Lucy knows all too well what it’s like to be with boys who play with fire, and she doesn’t care how corny she sounds when she says it: she’s fucking tired of getting burned.

She’s not going to let another man walk all over her again.

With newfound resolve, Lucy knocks on the door, continuous and loud and angry— basically falling over onto her neighbor when the door suddenly swings open.

Big brown eyes meet a familiar, surprised, green.

It takes only a second before any harsh words she’s about to say dries up on her tongue, as Lucy feels her heart drop so hard and so fast that she’s convinced it’s found itself on the other side of the world.

Neither of them speak.

Lucy experiences firsthand what they mean when they say that silence can feel like an eternity, even if it were really only a few seconds.

The quiet only breaks when she whispers his name for the first time in almost four years, so soft that she’s not even sure he hears it. She’s not even sure she says it at all.

“Natsu.”

---

NATSU DRAGNEEL is baking.

He isn’t a baker, by any means—in fact, he’s expressly forbidden from using his kitchen (the outstandingly high amount of fires he’s caused even without being near a stove remains to be both a mystery and curse to everyone around him), but he figures that it’s better to just do it now, then beg for Erza’s forgiveness later.

It’s a problem for Future Natsu to deal with, and as far as he’s concerned, that guy is a completely separate person, and his future suffering has nothing to do with him.

He groans as he looks down at his mixing bowl, comparing it to the video he’s been following for the past hour: the light brown, dough-like, texture through the screen vastly different from the almost-grayish, gooey, monstrosity that lay before him. It doesn’t look appetizing even to him, and Natsu’s been known to eat almost anything.

Maybe he should chuck it.

What he should have done was ask for help—but hell would freeze over before he’d ask Gray or Gajeel, who’d use it as fodder to laugh at him into the next decade, or any of the girls, who’d ask why he was baking and who for and for what and when where which why whatever until he’d either cave and tell them, or explode into little Natsu pieces from the stress of what he presumes would have been a brutal interrogation.

Natsu sighs deeply. It’s supposed to be a sweet gesture.

For the first time in a long time, he’s getting a neighbor. The last one was a year ago, and they had only lasted a week (only ten smoke alarms!) before giving up and leaving in the middle of the night, claiming psychological trauma from their experience in the apartment. Natsu still remembers vividly the apology he’d been forced to give by Erza, even having to pay out of pocket for their initial moving fees to a different building.

When Erza told him that she’d found someone to live in the apartment next to his, Natsu was overjoyed. To hear that it was a friend of hers made him even more-so: no matter how terrified he was of her, he also knew with confidence that Erza was never the kind of person to keep bad company.

Whoever Natsu’s new neighbor is, he knows that she’s someone special.

And after all the time that’s passed, he knows—perhaps more than most—how important it is to make someone feel that. Not to fuck it up so bad and leave making them feel like the worst and least special person in the world.

Anyway.

Natsu decided that to make them feel welcome, he’d bake them something. He’d bring cookies and introduce himself: that was, at the very least, what showed up as the top recommended to-do when he looked up ‘How To Greet New Neighbors’ on Google.

Maybe it’s on him for only now realizing that he could’ve bought the baked goods and saved himself the hassle of making  it himself, but if nothing else, Natsu is determined (read: stubborn), and pushes through with the cookie-adjacent…? dough, scooping it into little balls, then stuffing it in the oven he’s otherwise never used.

To absolutely no-one’s surprise—not to him, and not even to his neighbors—the oven explodes.

“Damn it.” Natsu curses aloud, before dealing with the fire in what, at this point, is just muscle memory. He isn’t even really thinking when he quickly throws anything that can catch fire to the other side of the room, grabs his personal fire extinguisher (a gift he’s gotten more use of than he’d like to admit) and douses the oven out, as he opens the window to let out the smoke and let in the outside air.

It takes more or less than five minutes before the smoke detector turns off, as Natsu heaves and drags his feet over to the charred remains of his hard work from the past afternoon. He double-checks that there are no other problems first, unplugging and moving things around as needed, before opening up the oven to another blast of heavy smoke.

Natsu coughs loudly, swatting at the air, then grabs the cookies with an oven mitt to place on his countertop.

‘Cookies’, even with the quotation marks, is a stretch.

The little monstrosities hadn’t hardened at all, looking instead like sad puddles on the parchment paper that had merged together to make one, big, super sad, unidentifiable, liquid. Yet—it still somehow looks burned, with little black bits peeking out here and there on the tray.

How does that even happen?

Natsu initially decides to spend the rest of the day sulking, when he hears sudden, and undoubtedly furious, knocks on his door in quick succession.

It almost surprises him, because nobody ever really visits him.

Oh.

Fuck.

It’s his neighbor.

So much for making a good impression.

Natsu cringes, inwardly—actually, even outwardly—smacking himself on the face. Great. Whoever this person is, it’s likely that they’re going to beat the previous tenant's record of living next to him for one week. Calling it quits in eight hours!

He pulls the door open quickly and intensely, mostly from nerves, as the stranger comes crashing into him from the sudden force. Natsu stumbles backward, falling over on his back as an eerily-familiar figure hovers over him, held up by her knees and hands.

It’s the scent that hits him first.

That distinctly-comforting smell of the library and ink, clumsily masked by some fancy perfume he could never properly pronounce and she would always make fun of him for.

He freezes when they make eye contact, transported back to a time when looking at each other like this was normal, and when he could always follow it up by—.

Natsu’s eyes drift downward, towards her lips.

How they always smiled when she saw him.

How they are in a tight line now, trembling as she looks down at him.

How she’d laugh then say his name, the warm and bright way she’d call him thousands of times before.

How she says his name now, so soft as if she’s hesitating to even say it, devoid of any feeling other than something he can’t quite name, and finds himself too afraid to identify.

“Natsu.”

He can’t breathe.

How many nights has he dreamed of seeing her like this, saying his name again, being this close to her again? To tell her everything he’s kept in for the four years they’d been apart—to cry, to scream, to apologize.

But nothing comes out except one word:

“Lucy.”

Notes:

back in the olden (??) days, fairy tail was the obsession of 13-year-old me. it was my first introduction into fandom culture - i ran an anime tumblr originally named after lucy, i got fake celestial keys from a local convention & worshipped them like god, and my first ever fanfic was a nalu one-shot posted on ff.net when i was 14 (wherein i excessively used “B-B-BAKA!” in conversation). i only stopped around the time the original series ended bc nalu still wasn’t canon and i got mad . and i had/have no patience for 100yq .

anyway the algorithm decided to show me a reel of nalu last june and now i miss them and THEN tumblr showed me nalu week 2025 was a thing and so now we’re here! hello!! i have not touched a piece of official fairy tail content since around 2016 ! so yeah mischaracterizations and weird lore probably thank you for understanding!!

but if youre here: thanks for reading have a good day! <3

Chapter 2: cozy mornings / casual intimacy

Summary:

Lucy thinks fate's a sneaky piece of shit. Natsu thinks it's kinda neat.

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THERE AREN’T REALLY any universally-agreed upon rules on how someone’s supposed to conduct themselves when they see an ex-relationship in the wild.

A lot of it, however, seems to stem around the advice ‘not to relapse.’ Something about having broken up for a reason, and that sudden feelings are just that: sudden and not to be trusted or taken objectively.

By any means necessary, do not backslide.

Lucy knows all these things.

She knows it by heart, after binge-watching romcoms nonstop when they’d first broken up four years ago. She knows that second chances are to be given sparingly if at all, and that someone better always comes along to prove that her first relationship was never meant to be her final one.

Then again: Lucy is also a strong believer in fate, and seeing Natsu again from a series of admittedly very-insane and almost fanfiction-like coincidences, signals strong proof to her that maybe there’s such a thing as being written in the stars.

He’s aged well in the years since she’d completely broken off all contact with him, even going so far as to block his accounts and his name in social media, mentioning him a taboo subject to be brought up around hangouts with their mutual friends.

Natsu has a stubble now, and his pink hair has grown out a bit under his ears. He’s undoubtedly continued to work out or do some physical activity, she notes quietly to herself, when her eyes once-over his broad shoulders, arms, and torso before she just as quickly looks away, embarrassed.

But it’s his eyes that keep her still, as if they’d somehow held her captive, unable to move and completely under his mercy.

It’s when Natsu says her name that she breaks from the fantasy, the hurt and anger and heartbreak that she’d felt all those years ago completely overtaking all the complicated feelings she’d felt only seconds prior.

You can no longer contact this number...

“Lucy.”

She jumps off of him suddenly, hitting the door’s hinges when she backs up to create some form of distance between them. Lucy winces from the pain, but instinctively snatches her hand away when Natsu tries to hold them in concern.

She decidedly ignores the hurt that flashes across his face.

“Lu—.”

“You.” She only says, effectively cutting him off. “You live here?”

Natsu swallows thickly, taking a careful and slow step backward, awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets. “... yeah.”

Lucy barks out a laugh, sharp and disbelieving. “Of course. Of course you do. No way that the world was going to let me live in peace. Fuck. Fuck.” She repeats, putting her hand to her forehead and throwing her head back. Then, whipping her head down to look directly at him. “Did you know I was the one moving in?”

“No!” Natsu says, almost shouts, before coughing and lowering his voice. “No… I didn’t. I was told that someone was moving in next door, but I promise. I had no idea that it was going to be you.”

“Yeah, of course you didn’t,” Lucy affirms. “No way you wouldn’t have done anything if you knew I’d be here.”

“Lucy, I…”

“Shut up.” She cuts him off for the second time that day. Lucy laughs again, shaking her head. “Let me figure this out.” She starts muttering to herself, almost crazed. “I did put a security deposit here, but it wasn’t a lot. I can just find another place…

“Lucy.”

“…there was that complex down the road, even if it’s a little creepy…”

“Lucy.”

“…any place is better than being my fucking ex-boyfriend’s neighbor…”

“Lucy.” Natsu says it in a voice so demanding that even she pauses, finally looking him in the eye.

“What?”

“I’ll move out.”

“What.”

“Look,” Natsu tugs at his hair with his fingers—the way he always does when he’s stressed. She used to grab his hands when he did that, telling him to just hold hers instead. Lucy has to consciously stop herself from doing that again. “I know you don’t want me here,” he continues. “I can leave. You should stay. I owe you that much.”

There’s so much left unsaid between them. She knows he wants to say more, but he holds himself back. They both do.

Lucy sighs deeply. Now she feels like the asshole. “Okay. Listen. I’m not going to make you move out of your home for… what, how many years?”

“Four years.”

“Four yea—,” Lucy pauses, looking at him incredulously. “You lived here after we broke up?”

“... yeah.”

“All that time, you were here in Magnolia? I thought you...”

“I know.”

“I spent so much time..."

"I know..."

"... and you were just...”

"Lucy. I know."

"No, you don't. You don't know anything about it. About what I went through. About what you made me go through."

"I kn-... no, you're right. I don't."

"..."

"I'm sorry, Lucy."

“I know.”

An awkward silence encompasses between them.

Then:

“You’re not moving out.”

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“I’ll get more uncomfortable if you move out for me.”

“...”

“I don’t want to owe you anything.”

“You wouldn’t. I owe you everything… after what I did.”

“Stop. I don’t want to go back to that. None of it matters now.”

“None of it?”

“I’m over it… I’ve moved on. Haven’t you?”

“... I guess so.”

Lucy breathes in, the exhaustion coming back in waves. A mentally- and emotionally-taxing conversation with her ex-boyfriend hadn’t been in her bingo card for the day, especially after having spent most of it heavylifting and moving into her new apartment.

“If we just avoid each other, there shouldn’t be a problem.” She finally says, defeated. “I’m not making you effectively homeless just because I don’t want to see you. We’re adults. I don’t want you to suffer.”

Natsu smiles a bit. “Really?”

“Well. Maybe a little.” Lucy admits, earning a small and awkward laugh shared between them. “Anyway, if we stay out of each other’s way, it should be fine.”

“I guess that’s fair,” Natsu relents, before tilting his head and looking at her curiously. She loves when he does that.

Loves?

You mean loved.

Fuck, get it together.

Natsu continues, blissfully unaware of her train of thought. “I do have a question though.”

“I can’t promise I’ll answer.”

He smiles again. “Why’d you knock?”

Then she remembers everything that’s happened in the past half-hour. Right. This fucker. “Uh. Because you almost set my apartment on fire?!”

“Huh. Guess the other residents didn’t tell you.”

“They explained it right before I knocked.”

“And… you thought they were crazy.”

“They are. Everyone is. Especially you. How is causing fires normal?”

“I put them out!”

“You put them ou — I can’t believe I’m even having this conversation.” Lucy laughs incredulously. “And I can’t believe it didn’t click earlier that it was you. Who else would be able to magically set fires without trying?”

“It’s a superpower.”

“You mean a curse. I still remember what you did to my transcript.”

“That was an accident!”

“And my notebook. And my curtains. My backpack. My highlighters—now that was fascinating, how you did that…” Natsu’s full-on laughing now, and Lucy is too.

“Oh my god, right…”

“And the bed too, when we were—.”

Pause.

What the fuck is she doing?

Laughing with him like everything’s fine.

She needs to remember who they are, where they are, what they are.

What they aren’t anymore.

Lucy shudders when she looks at Natsu. It’s so scarily easy to fall into old patterns with him.

“I’m… going to go,” she finally says, turning before he can say another word, refusing to look at him. “I hope to see you aro—I mean, not. Not see you around.”

There’s a pause before he answers. “Yeah… bye.”

And that’s that.

…

Until Lucy realizes with belated horror that something’s missing.

The door to her apartment seems like it’s laughing at her—

The key to open it having somehow fallen on the floor inside when she left the room in a panic.

“Fuck.”

“Lucy… you okay?”

She sighs, pinching her forehead, then accusingly pointing at him. “This is your fault.”

 

---

 

TO BE CLEAR, it isn’t his fault.

Or maybe it is, but definitely not to the level that she’s convinced it is. Still, Natsu knows better than to say anything, if only just to make sure her mood doesn’t get any worse.

He still feels like it isn’t real.

Here she is, pacing back and forth down the hallway without a care in the world, having walked (read: literally crashed) right back into his life in less than a second—the woman who’s plagued his dreams and nightmares for almost half of a decade.

She’s so different now, somehow more beautiful than when they last met, which he initially thought impossible. Sure, Natsu’s looked up her name more times than he cares to admit—checked mutual friends’ posts with her in it—anything to see even a hint of her again (after she’d basically blocked him and gone private on every single platform imaginable). But pictures of her through a screen could never have compared to the real thing.

Her hair’s longer and she's a lot tanner than she used to be, and she’s obviously aged quite a bit—four years apart can make that a lot more evident—but it’s still her. She was undoubtedly Lucy, the girl who’d stolen his heart back when he was fifteen, and proved that she still had it at the age of twenty-five.

“Damn it!” Natsu’s head whips up when he hears her groan, cursing under her breath a series of expletives that even he can’t find in himself to repeat.

“What’s wrong?”

“They aren’t picking up. Probably asleep.” Lucy sighs. “Early risers.”

“You always were a night owl.” Natsu can’t help but say it, a part of him wanting her to remember everything they’d gone through, even if it’s evident that she’d much rather do… well. Anything else.

“Yeah, I work better in the evening.” She  mutters, distracted, before turning towards him. “You’ve lived here awhile. Do you know where they keep the spare keys?”

“Yup,” Natsu nods confidently. “It’s with Freed; he handles the security around here.”

“Perfect. Take me to him.”

“Can’t do that,” he only says, genuinely apologetic. “It’s outside of his work hours, and he doesn’t really live here. He’ll be back in the morning.”

“Can’t you tell him it’s an emergency?”

“I doubt he’d answer,” Natsu pauses. “He’s an early riser too.”

“Fucking morning people,” Lucy seethes, before slumping over her door. “Guess I’ll just find a cafe nearby so I can stay over for the night. Be back in the morning.”

“No!” Natsu says, sudden, surprising even himself. “Uh. That’s too much work. You can just… stay over. At my place.”

Lucy looks like she’d rather get hit by a car.

“I’d rather get hit by a car.”

Natsu laughs to himself, happy that he still knows her, if only for the smallest bit.

“Come on, you’re tired. You can use my bedroom, I’ll sleep on the couch outside. I have to be out early tomorrow anyway, so you’ll just have to deal with me tonight then slip out while I’m gone then.”

“I don’t know…”

“I have a weighted blanket.”

“Sold.”

Lucy doesn’t even hesitate to go inside his apartment after that, though Natsu decides that it’s better not to read anything out of it. After all, he noticed the eyebags too—heard the consistent sounds of her and her friends unpacking since earlier that afternoon. As much as he wishes it's because she wants to be around him, Natsu also knows that she’s probably just too exhausted to even put up a fight.

He follows after her and closes the apartment door, leading her towards his bedroom.

Then he abruptly stops.

Lucy’s eyes narrow. “What.”

“Just give me a minute.”

Natsu then dashes inside his room to slam the door closed, not even allowing her to protest. He frantically starts throwing random items around and stuffing them inside the closet. Shit,  he thinks as he shuffles around and tries to make the room look even a little bit more presentable, how the fuck did I let it get this bad?!

“You don’t have to hide your porn, you’re a guy, I get it.”

He blushes against his will, quietly thanking god that she’s not here to see it. Still, he’s indignant: “I am not hiding porn.”

“Oh,” the voice turns teasing. “Then something left behind by a lady friend? Girlfriend? Or is it all one-night-stands for you now?”

There’s a silence, until Natsu suddenly opens the door.

“What?” Lucy looks up drowsily after having sat down, leaning on the wall, legs held up to her stomach, and head propped up on her knees.

Natsu slowly kneels down to her level, gently holding up her chin to make sure they’re eye-to-eye. His voice drops down to a whisper, as if what’s about to be said is a secret to be shared just between the two of them.

“There’s been nobody since you.”

Silence, again.

He sees a flash of lucidity in her eyes as the words sink in, before she suddenly pushes him back and runs into the room, avoiding his gaze. Natsu barely has time to register what’s happened when she’s already gone.

“Okay, anyway, good night!” She pauses, then in a softer voice: “... and thank you.”

Lucy slams the door in his face before he can respond.

Natsu stands up slowly, then puts a hand on the door, lightly knocking his forehead on it.

He breathes deeply. “Good night, Lucy.”

Natsu makes his way onto the couch, lies down, and tries to fall asleep—fully aware of how after years of avoiding each other like the plague, the love of his life was now sleeping in the room next to him, only a few feet away.

Needless to say, he doesn’t get much rest that night.

 

---

 

LUCY HEARTFILIA wakes up at ten in the morning, having slept better than she’d ever slept in her life.

The first thing she notices is how cozy the bed is. It’s been months since she’s laid down on a bed so large and so soft, that she almost moans with the feeling of the fabric on her skin.

The second thing she notices is the scent: it’s a lot more potent as she settles deeper into the sheets—like a campfire in the woods, something so distinctly warm and hot that she almost decides not to get up.

That is, until she remembers where she is.

Her ex-boyfriend’s bedroom.

In her hurry to run away, Lucy twists herself into the sheets and falls over.

Fucking weighted blankets.

Lucy grumbles, slowly untangling herself from the mess then looking around where she, in her exhaustion, apparently decided was a great place to spend the night.

The room is exactly what she expects Natsu’s room to look like. It’s filled with random trinkets—from gym equipment, to snacks, to things she can’t even identify—but it’s one wall in the room that gives her pause. From top to bottom, it’s filled with pictures and random documents that he’s clumsily tacked on with tape or sticky tacks, of friends and family and places he’s gone to with both people she knows and doesn’t. Sticky notes add descriptions of the memories he’s kept, showing the evident care he’d put into getting everything together.

But as she continues to look at the wall, her heart drops.

Because she's not in it.

There isn’t a single picture of them displayed; no random memorabilia or notes even referencing her presence or existence in his life. It was like he’d completely scrubbed clean all proof of the time that they spent together. All the proof that they loved each other. If his room were a reflection of his own self, and the wall a representation of everything and everyone he holds or held dear, then this made it extremely clear: she wasn’t part of his life.

Not anymore.

Lucy laughs, quiet, ignoring the feeling of her heart crack the tiniest bit.

What did she expect?

Trying to ignore the hurt that threatens to come out in tears, Lucy fixes up the bed, then cleans herself up as best as she can in the mirror. She cautiously opens the door and peeks outside to see if he’s still in the apartment, but Natsu had kept true to his promise.

He’s gone.

Instead, Lucy finds a hastily prepared breakfast on the table, accompanied with a small note and key.

Hey Lucy!

I’m not sure when you’ll be up but I’m leaving out some food in case you get hungry. You can leave it in the fridge if you don’t want it. Or reheat it if it’s too cold. The setting-everything-on-fire thing probably doesn’t apply to people in my apartment if I’m not there. But the fire extinguisher’s nearby if you need it. ;)

I went to Freed earlier, and got him to hand over the spare key so you don’t have to look for it. We’re friends so luckily he believed me when I said it was for you. :) You can slip it under my floor mat when you’re done, I’ll return it when I get back.

I hope your night wasn’t too bad. I’ll see you around kidding! I’ll get out of your hair now. You won’t see me at all. Like a ninja.

-Natsu (^^^)

The crudely-drawn flames next to his name and jokes makes her laugh, though Lucy finds herself genuinely touched with the gesture. He didn’t need to do that. It’s sweet.

She hums while she eats the breakfast, giggling slightly to herself to find a sandwich prepared— knowing that he probably didn’t want to accidentally start a fire, instead settling for something safer to make. (Though admittedly, he’d still find a way to set things ablaze somehow, if he really wanted to.)

Lucy hasn’t had a cozier morning in awhile.

She finishes the food laid out on the table, then looks up toward the ceiling, thinking to herself.

It doesn’t feel right to just leave after he’d gone out of his way to try and help her out.

Lucy looks around his apartment: as can be expected from him, it’s an absolute mess.

She rolls up her sleeves, then gets up from her chair.

“Alright then.”

 

---

 

NATSU KNOWS SOMETHING’S WRONG when he finds that the key isn’t under the doormat.

Maybe she forgot? Should he go to her apartment? He hesitates, then decides to look under his mat again. Under her mat. Under their other neighbors’ mats. Even under the potted plants that separate the rooms. Maybe she misunderstood his instructions.

But isn’t going over to her place against the rules? That’s the opposite of what she’s asking for.

Still. He needs the key.

He’s already over-extended himself by asking for the favor, only managing to do so after promising Freed that he’d share embarrassing photos from Laxus’ childhood—never before seen to the public. If he doesn’t return it by tonight… Natsu shudders to even think of the punishments that the man could inflict upon him for not following through.

So he prepares himself to knock on Lucy’s apartment.

Until he hears a loud crash! in his own.

He rushes in without a second thought, grabbing the metal baseball bat he always keeps next to his door, swatting it around. “Who are you?!”

“Hey, hey, hey!” A surprised voice squeaks, as he sees a familiar figure nervously raising their hands up in fake-surrender. “No problems here—it’s just me.”

“Lu…cy?” The words die on his lips when she comes into full view.

She’s wearing his shirt.

It’s a little oversized on her, a black shirt that reaches down her legs, to the point that it looks like she isn’t wearing anything underneath. He swallows the lump in his throat.

“Oh!” She says, noticing his eyes boring holes into her shirt. Her hands nervously go down the bottom, slightly pulling at the fabric (it does nothing).  “Uh, sorry… I was starting to sweat and I needed a fresh change of clothes… I just showered and it was easier to just borrow from you so…”

She showered. In his apartment. Wearing his clothes. Using his things.

The familiar scent of his body wash wafts across the room.

God, she even smells like him.

Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

“Uh… why are you still here?”

Lucy flinches.

Asshole.

Why the fuck did you say that?

“Sorry… I just… it was nice. What you did. I wanted to thank you somehow.” She glances around, almost nervous. “I cleaned up a bit. I hope that’s okay.”

He looks around as if he’s completely forgotten where he is, noticing for the first time how absurdly clean his apartment looks. Everything is put away in its proper place, and he can actually see parts of his floor that he hasn’t seen in months. Clothes neatly folded and put in the closet. Gym equipment properly kept in their containers. Proof of last night’s fire completely gone. It’s all amazing, but it's a small end table at the corner of the room that completely catches his eye.

On that table, Natsu had clumsily put together a small altar to his dad, who passed away a few years ago. It was modest—just a few pictures of them tacked on, with some of his old belongings. He always meant to fix it, but it had always brought on complicated feelings whenever he started so he could never finish.

Lucy, on the other hand, had completely refurbished it. She placed a new tablecloth on, and placed the pictures in new frames with the little trinkets put in small containers. Placed at the very center is a photograph of him at around seven years old, grinning into the camera as his dad hugs him from behind, sporting the exact same smile. To the left is a vase with flame lilies: his favorite flower. 

“I… I found the frames and containers in one of the plastic bags near the table so I figured they were meant for here… the flowers, I saw them growing some in the veranda so I… stole some, haha… I just thought it would be a nice dedication to Igneel. I heard about his passing.”

She’s rambling, Natsu can tell, but he can barely hear her. Instead, all he says is: “Fuck.”

Lucy’s eyes widen. “Oh shit, you hate it. Shouldn’t have touched your things without permission. I’m so sorry, I can put it all back…”

“You’re amazing.” He breathes out, walking towards her with surprising speed and wrapping her in a hug. “You’re amazing.”

She freezes at first, before warming to his hug and gingerly wrapping her own hands around him. She laughs a bit. “I just cleaned up. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is.” He says, deadpan and serious, only letting go from the hug to look into her eyes. His hand moves upward to hold her cheek. She’s so warm. How much has he missed this? “You could’ve gone home. You know I wouldn’t have minded. You didn’t have to do all this for me. You went above and beyond. That’s why I love—.”

Natsu stops in his tracks. The words—that one word—hangs in the air. Four letters, one syllable, that threatens to completely overhaul their relationship. Change it.

One word.

He chokes.

“—that’s… why I love it. Everything you did with the room. I just… thank you.”

Lucy lets out a breath it seems she was holding. She smiles at him, though it looks a lot less genuine than he would’ve liked to see. She slowly maneuvers her way out of his arms (he hates the feeling immediately) before walking towards the door, glancing back at him one more time.

“I’m glad you liked it. And thank you again. For everything. I’ll, uh. I’ll get out of your hair now.” 

She doesn’t let him get a word in, closing the door behind her.

Natsu falls to the floor as soon as she’s gone.

Coward.

What the hell was that?

Are you her boyfriend again?

You already fucked that up the first time.

Let her move on.

She’ll never forgive you for what you did.

He closes his eyes and tries to calm down, head throbbing from what felt like his brain evidently giving him a lecture.

Once he quiets the voices, one thought is left behind, echoing in his head nonstop:

What if I want her back?

Notes:

i have steadily realized the complications of making a multi-chapter fic based on prompts bc it is SO HARD to adopt them all and also make it coherent?? :'D i am justifying casual intimacy here as them bantering/touching each other romantically without rlly thinking abt it bc old habits die hard! that counts I Believe

anw the cleaning scene is indeed inspired by that ep where lucy says she went to their house then cleaned it bc of the memory wall and yes im stealing that now bc it brings me joy . except in this one natsu hates her & doesnt have her on the wall. : ( orr thats how it seems to her at least! : ) i hope you find the mystery between them intriguing!

and if youre here: thanks for reading have a good day! <3

Chapter 3: vacation / magic swap

Summary:

Lucy and Natsu confide in their friends. Things go about as well as can be expected.

.

.

.

“YOU’RE TELLING ME… the 'asshole son-of-a-bitch ex-boyfriend' that ruined your life is… Natsu Dragneel?”

Sitting across the booth, elbows propped up on the table, Lucy nods her head. She doesn’t even have the energy to say ‘yes’, still not quite believing the turn of events herself.

Her companion is eerily quiet until she hears the sound of plates clattering on the floor, both surprised and consequently horrified to see Erza suddenly hunched over the cafe’s floor, head down and hands out as if begging for her forgiveness.

“I… I am so, so, sorry, Lucy. This is all my fault.”

The spectacle is more than enough to catch a few curious glances, as Lucy immediately kneels down and tries to pull up her friend from a (perhaps overly-enthusiastic) apology. “No, no, it’s fine!” She whispers as loud as she can, grabbing Erza by the arm to get back up on her chair. “Levy, help me!”

The other girl—who had been otherwise preoccupied with eating and fully enjoying her large ice cream sundae—seems to notice the situation for the first time, sliding over to help out: together, finally managing to bring Erza back onto the chair.

But she’s still miserable, head hunched over the table in dramatic and defeated fashion.

“It’s not your fault,” Lucy mumbles, awkwardly stretching out her hand to pat her friend on the back. “I didn’t tell you his name. There was no way you could’ve known!”

Levy nods along, massaging her shoulders. “Yeah, it’s just a series of coincidences!”

“I am still so sorry, Lucy. I thought the apartment would be perfect. If I had done my due diligence, I would’ve connected the dots earlier on.”

“It’s okay, I know you were just trying to help! And I’d be homeless right now if it weren’t for you. So really, what I should be saying is thank you.”

Erza sighs, finally looking up, and as if noticing her sorry state, immediately straightens her posture. “Yes… you’re welcome.” She pauses. “Still… to think you had that kind of history with Natsu. I knew he had a girlfriend when he was living in Hargeon, but I never would’ve thought it was you.”

Lucy hums, thinking back to that time in her life for the first time in, literally speaking, years. “It was ages ago. I didn’t think it was important to bring up when we met. He was long gone from my life by then. But I never would’ve thought you’d know him.”

Natsu always used to talk about his childhood friend, who he referred to as the ‘scarlet she-devil’. Never in her life would she have assumed that he had been talking about Erza. (Lucy decides not to say this aloud, figuring that he’s in enough trouble as is, even without her piling on further.)

“Besides,” she continues, trying to ignore the pool of hurt forming at the bottom of her stomach. “It makes sense he’d never talk about me. I… don’t think our relationship ever meant that much to him.”

“No.” Erza says, completely serious. “Lucy, I don’t think that’s true. He was a complete shut-in when he came back to Magnolia. I wasn’t there at the time, but Natsu apparently didn’t come out of his apartment for months. His friends had to break inside and drag him out by force.”

“At least he chose to be alone.”

“… what do you m—?” Erza stops when Levy puts a hand on hers, a quiet warning not to ask any more questions. She nods in understanding. “I see. I'll stop asking. You don’t have to share anything you're not ready to talk about.”

Lucy smiles, grateful. “I appreciate it.”

“So… what are you going to do?” Levy asks instead, chin comfortably resting on her palms.

“Nothing else I can do. I can’t afford to leave right now, and I’m not so heartless as to kick Natsu out either. We kind of just agreed to stay out of each other’s way.”

“Guess that’s fair.”

“Anyway,” Lucy changes direction, suddenly staring her best friend down in a way that makes her shudder. “You’re telling me you didn’t figure it out?”

“Hey!” Levy says defensively, holding up a spoon. “Gajeel always referred to him as Salamander! I had no idea they were the same person.”

“So you just had no idea that your boyfriend is best friends with my ex-boyfriend.”

“Believe me or not, it’s the truth.” Levy audibly hmphs, sharply crossing her arms over the other. “Life's just like that sometimes. Stranger things have happened.”

“Sure.” Lucy still eyes her best friend with some suspicion, but decides that it’s best to just move on.

Not like she has any proof to say otherwise, anyway.

“But okay, fine, I’ll drop it.” Lucy finally relents, burying her face in her hands. “I just can’t believe that this is happening. There’s no way that my luck’s just this bad.”

Erza and Levy nod empathetically.

“Come on, Lu. Let me make it up to you.” Lucy slightly tilts her head up, opening one eye to see Levy excitedly holding a set of coupons.

“What is that?”

She grins, large and chaotic, eerily similar to the one her boyfriend sports when he’s up to no good. “Gajeel and I won a radio contest to go to this fancy inn a few hours away. Why don’t we make it a girls trip?”

Lucy doesn’t trust it. 

“I don’t know… won’t Gajeel be upset?”

Levy shrugs. “He said he didn’t want to go. Something came up.”

“Still…. I just moved in. And I’m still not done packing. I should probably stay back.

“So you’re telling me that you want to continue staying in the apartment next to his?” Levy asks, dramatically gasping and putting a hand to her mouth. “And I thought you’ve moved on.”

“I have! But…”

“I bet there’ll be a lot of cute guys there to help you get over him too… you know what they say: the best way to get over someone is to get under—“

“Okay, okay!“ Lucy finally relents. “I get it. I’ll go. Just… don’t finish your sentence.”

“Why? You shouldn't be ashamed of having a healthy and active sex life—."

"LEVY."

"Fine!"

 

---

 

“HA! SO ‘YER TELLING me your ex-girlfriend was blondie all this time?”

Gajeel’s laugh is echoing throughout the apartment halls—only silenced by an equally-loud and sudden punch placed squarely on his stomach. He feels himself get thrown back, groaning and irritatedly holding where he’d been hit. “The hell was that for, Salamander?!”

“Shut up metalhead,” Natsu grunts back, pulling at his hair. “I’ve shown you pictures of Lucy! How did you not figure it out?!”

Gajeel pauses, then lazily shrugs, throwing himself over his friend(?)’s couch. “I dunno. All blondes look the same to me.”

“Dumbass,” Natsu groans, pinching his forehead. “The only girl you ever see is Levy.”

“Keep shrimp’s name out of your mouth,” Gajeel warns, before putting his arms behind his head and relaxing on them. “What’s the big deal? Ain’t this a good thing? You finally saw her again.” He grins. “Now you can quit bein’ a little pervert looking for her pictures like a damn stalker.”

Natsu shoves him off the couch.

“I’ll kill you.”

“I’d like to see ‘ya try,” Gajeel snorts.

A quiet pause—uncharacteristic of them—passes, with Natsu slumping over the floor and, irritated, throwing a stray pen across the room.

“She doesn’t want to talk to me,” he finally mumbles. “Basically ran out of the door when she saw me again.”

“‘’Yer being overdramatic.”

“She told me she’d rather get hit by a car than be in the same room as me.”

“Gihi!” Gajeel wheezes. “Bunny-girl’s got spunk. I like that.”

“Bunny girl?”

“Oh yeah, there was one time we went out and blondie was wearin’ this slut—.” Gajeel rolls his eyes as he’s immediately pinned down the floor, a punch aimed at his face, the other hand holding him up by the collar. His eyes narrow. “Get off me before I bash ‘yer face in.”

Natsu takes a deep breath, slow, before backing off. “Don’t talk about her like that again,” his voice is clipped, as if he’s struggling to hold back from whatever he wants to do.

“Yeah, yeah,” Gajeel grunts, irritated. “Sorry. Nothin' meant by it, I like blondie. She's good to shrimp—so calm down. She ain’t your girlfriend anymore, anyway.”

He freezes.

Don’t kill him.

He's not wrong.

What right does he have to be so protective over her?

“Look man,” Gajeel starts, careful. “‘Yer obviously over the edge. I didn’t want to go because it’s some dumb thing, but me and shrimp are goin’ to this fancy inn she won in a contest or whatever. Go with us. Get out of here. It’ll help get ‘ya out of your head.”

“I don’t know,” Natsu mutters. “Maybe I should just stay here.”

“That’s what you did last time. Don’t let her take over your life like that again, Salamander. 'Yer better than all that.” It’s a moment of genuine sentiment that almost touches Natsu, if it weren’t for what followed: “Or you can just continue bein’ this pathetic. This is your default setting anyways.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“Sure.”

They fight for the next half-hour. Gray somehow joins in at an unidentifiable point, yelling something about being better than both of them—a bold-faced lie, if they have anything to say about it. But they somehow end up inviting him on the trip too.

“We’re leavin’ tomorrow. If yer late, I’m leaving you behind. No questions asked. I’m not making shrimp wait for your dumb asses, got it?”

They nod right before Gajeel knocks both their heads together and they all pass out on the floor.

 

---

 

LU: @LEVY DO YOU have a death wish.

The minivan is silent. So quiet that when Gray sneezes by accident, Erza gives him a glare so deathly that he’s effectively shut up for the next hour.

levy: I SWEAR I HAD NO IDEA T_T
> gajeel told me he was coming along last minute but i didnt he was bringing anyone along!!!!
> he just offered to drive us:’)

lu: HOW DO YOU EVEN TALK TO EACH OTHER

Lucy shifts in place, pretending to stretch to kick the seat directly in front of her. Levy looks back at her in evident betrayal. 

She shrugs it off, mouthing the word ‘accident’.

(It isn’t. But given the situation, Lucy feels she’s allowed to be petty.)

Erza Scarlet: I saw that.
> Please don’t fight in the minivan, there isn’t enough space as it is.

She huffs, but offers a slow nod, turning off her phone. Erza had become the impromptu peacekeeper for the trip, finding that such a role was necessary as soon as the group went to the building lobby that morning, waiting for Gajeel to show up with their ride for the weekend.

-

Lucy had packed the day before, a small pink suitcase that contained the essentials and (more than a few) cute outfits for the overnight trip. She’d never admit it but she had agonized over what to wear that morning: opting for a fitted white tube top with a black-and-white miniskirt that was, admittedly, more aesthetic than convenient for a day that started with a 3-4 hour car ride. 

It isn’t like Lucy is actively looking for someone like Levy had teased, but at the same time—she isn’t necessarily against finding someone new to spend the next two days with either. She does need to move on. And she’s found that it’s easier to find someone new when your outfit does most of the talking for you.

Lucy enters the elevator, about to close, when a hand pops through the doors.

“Wait, wait, wait!”

Not. Fucking. Possible.

(Of course it is.)

Natsu Dragneel rushes inside, dressed in khaki pants, a white long-sleeved shirt, and a gray vest. Wrapped around his neck is his scarf—something that's always been staple in his wardrobe, and slung across his arm is a big gray duffel bag. 

Why the hell does he have to look so good?

No… wrong question.

Why the hell is he here?

He scratches his head as the doors close, heaving a relieved sigh. “Thanks for waiting! The elevators here take forever and… Lucy?”

She nods, offering a small smile. “… hey.”

“Oh, uh… sorry!” Natsu manages to say, genuinely apologetic. “I didn’t know it was you in here, if I did I wouldn’t have—.”

“It’s fine. We live on the same floor. It’s not like we’ll never end up bumping into each other.”

“Yeah, but…”

“Natsu.” He pauses at the sound of his name. “It’s okay.”

“… okay.”

The ride is awkward. Why is this elevator going so slow?!

“You look good.”

Did she hear that correctly?

“What?”

“What? Shit. I mean, uh… you good? That’s what I meant. Are you… good?” Natsu states, eyes suddenly fixating on her suitcase. “Going somewhere?”

Oh.

Of course she heard that wrong.

She laughs.

Stop assuming things.

“Yeah,” Lucy finally breathes out. “A mini-vacation with some friends. I’ll be gone for the weekend.”

“Oh cool! Me too,” Natsu says easily. “My friends are also going out. Seems like that kind of week, huh?”

Wait.

“… yeah.”

This doesn’t feel right.

“… Natsu, where are you going?”

“I don’t know! A friend booked it for us.”

Please.

“—well, he didn’t actually book it. His girlfriend did.”

God.

“You see, they won this radio contest and…”

Damn it.

“Gajeel invited you, didn’t he?”

“Oh, yeah! How did you…”, Natsu freezes, turning towards her and pointing at her bag. “Levy?”

“Yup.” Lucy pops the ‘p’.

“Fuck.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

-

Unsurprisingly, the lobby was in an uproar as everyone gathered downstairs and realized what happened. Lucy could hear some apologies, some arguments, a lot of cursing. She and Natsu had ended up in a debate of their own, on who should go and who shouldn’t, interjected every once in a while with someone new sharing their thoughts.

It’s only after five minutes of bickering that Erza finally had enough, yelling at everyone to basically shut up—effectively doing so (though she was reprimanded by the receptionist for the noise).

“None of us have a choice here,” Erza had told them. “The inn’s huge. We can just share the car then separate from there. Okay?”

Everyone agreed. (Nobody dared go against her.)

So they all piled into Gajeel’s admittedly beat-up minivan, and endured what was more-or-less the most awkward carpooling experience of their lives.

“Pitstop!” The man in question suddenly shouts, shaking Lucy out of her thoughts, and effectively breaking the silence that had overtaken the van. “Stretch ‘yer legs, take a leak, or buy some shit. We leave in exactly ten minutes. So if you ain’t here, then we’re leaving ‘ya behind.”

The distinctive sound of a fairly-strong hand slapping someone’s shoulder echoes throughout the cramped space.

“… kiddin’, obviously. Now scram!”

They file out of the van like ants out of an anthill.

 

---

 

“SO… HOW’RE you feeling?”

It’s a surprisingly decent question from Gray, who walks with Natsu around the convenience store to buy snacks for the trip. 

“Sucks.”

“I bet.” Gray whistles low. “You screwed her over bad. I’m surprised she’s even here.”

“We agreed that it wouldn’t be fair to make one of us stay back.”

“Bet that wasn’t the reason why you wanted her to come on the trip though.”

Gray’s smirk as he speaks is especially annoying, but Natsu maturely decides to move past it (read: he’ll sock him on the jaw for it later). Satisfying his empty stomach takes priority.

“So what?”

He shrugs. “I mean, you can try. Getting her back. But she can barely look at you without looking like she smelled shit.”

“Lucy doesn’t look at me like I’m shit.”

“Like she smelled shit, dumbass.” Gray pauses. “And actually, like you are shit.”

“Does she really?”

He shrugs. “Dunno. Maybe you just smell like ass.”

“Fuck you.”

“Fuck you.”

Natsu glares at him, taking spicy chips and putting them inside the basket. He pauses, then goes to the cold foods area and takes a container of strawberry yogurt.

“The hell is that for?”

“None of your business.”

He smirks. “It’s for her, isn’t it.” Gray doesn’t say it like a question, instead stating it as fact.

“Shut the hell up.”

“Aww,” he coos. “Being so lovey-dovey over a girl? Oh Natsu, what a gentleman~.”

Gray’s stumbling back from a punch to the cheek before he can even register it. “What the fuck?!”

Natsu shrugs. “You smell like shit.”

“I’ll kill you.”

He can't help it.

They lunge at each other.

And they’re thrown out of the store immediately. 

“Wait, but my snacks—!”

The cashier looks at them with a glare so cold that both boys freeze and shut up immediately. 

Natsu glares at his best friend as they sit on the sidewalk, evidently sulking at being kicked out. “Fuck you, man.”

“You hit me first?!”

“And I’d do it again—.”

“Ahem.” A chill runs down their spines, as they slowly turn to see a mainstay in both of their nightmares looking down at both of them, as if she were about to end their lives right then and there. “You’re not fighting while we’re on a trip, right?”

Maybe Natsu really is going to end up shitting himself.

“No, ma’am!” They both claim, putting one of their arms on the other’s shoulders. “We’re best friends!”

Erza stares them down one more time, before tiredly sighing and walking towards the van. “Fine. Come on, we should head back.”

Natsu sighs, hearing his stomach grumble and protest leaving the snacks behind. “Yep.”

That damned ice bastard…

Then: a sudden and small tap on his shoulder.

And the undeniable sound of his favorite snack dropping right into his hands from behind him: hot cheerios. “Where—?”

The vicinity around them is full of unfamiliar faces, until he notices an undeniable figure slowly retreating from view.

Lucy’s already halfway to the van when he sees her, hands behind her back and talking to Levy as if she hadn’t done anything at all.

It’s only for a second that she looks back and smiles a bit shyly at him, as if to acknowledge what she’s done, before quickly turning around and moving on as if it were a secret to only be shared between them.

Shit.

She’s too damn cute.

God, he wants to kiss her.

“The fuck?! Where’d you get that? Share with me!”

Natsu smacks away Gray’s hand when the latter attempts to grab at the food.

Then after a second: he offers it to him, an unnervingly-pleasant smile on his face.

“Yeah, okay, I’ll share with you.”

His friend’s immediately suspicious. “What do you want?”

“Something simple. Don’t worry.”

What Natsu says admittedly is simple. Just one, small, favor.

Gray looks like he’s been punched in the gut.

“Like hell?! I’d rather get kicked in the balls—.”

“I know the code to get into Erza’s snacks suitcase, and I’ll get you whatever you want from it if you help me out with this.”

“And if—when—she finds out?”

“I’ll take all the blame.” Natsu has to stop himself from shuddering, immediately fearful of even the thought of whatever punishment he’d get from doing so.

But still: this was more important.

Gray seems to think it over seriously (something that Natsu considers a rare sight), before sighing deeply to himself in resignation.

“Fine. But you fucking owe me.” He pauses. “And you’re getting me all the good shit. Asshole.”

Natsu nods enthusiastically, shaking hands with someone who was—for the time being, at least—his ally.

Gray makes his announcement when they’re about to enter the van.

“I want to swap!”

Everyone’s completely silent until Gajeel speaks up. “The fuck do you mean?”

“Yeah Gray…,” Natsu repeats, unable to stop the grin on his face. “The fuck do you mean?”

His best friend’s glare doubles as a promise that he’s going to beat Natsu’s ass as soon as the situation allows for it.

But Gray somehow persists, swallowing the evident lump in his throat and managing to get a few words out. “I want… sit… Erza.”

Natsu almost doubles over in laughter.

“Excuse me?” Even her voice is enough to strike fear into his heart. Gray’s shaking like a leaf.

Okay, he needs help.

“I think what Gray means is that he wants to sit next to you,” Natsu finally adds, after having his fill of seeing his best friend basically shit his pants without actually doing so.

“And why would we do that?” Erza asks, already suspicious.

That doesn’t surprise him. She’s always been suspicious of them (for good reason, but that’s not to say he likes it).

“He needs your advice,” Natsu instead says, then leans over to her and whispers, “girl trouble.”

Sorry man.

Erza’s interest is evidently peaked. Natsu knows his childhood friend well enough to know that she’d always been interested in romantic relationships and dating gossip, though she’d never admit to it. 

Her big eyes prove that she’s bought into it. She whispers back. “… Juvia?”

Natsu nods dramatically. “Yeah, I think he’s finally ready to confess to her. But y’know—he needs the encouragement.”

She nods. “I understand.”

Easy.

“Alright Gray, let us go,” Erza says. “Natsu, you don’t mind swapping and taking my seat in front?”

“Nope!” He says, pointedly ignoring the panicked glances of what the fuck did you say and I am going to beat your ass Dragneel and you’re a piece of shit, comfortably moving to take a seat at front.

Erza pauses, warily looking at the new position. Lucy’s asleep, leaning on the window to her side, but she belatedly realizes that Natsu’s moving over to sit next to her. “Wait. What are you planning?”

He raises his hands up. “Look, she’s asleep. I couldn’t talk to her if I tried. And the trip’s almost over.”

Erza looks at them, pondering it for a second. “Levy, what do you think?”

The girl in question squeaks from suddenly being called. “Uh! I… I mean, it’s probably fine? She is asleep.”

“Hmm. Okay, then…” Erza finally says, resigned to the new arrangement. “Let’s go.”

Natsu grins, then slowly takes his seat.

From behind him, he can hear Erza whisper (read: basically shout) in Gray’s ear: “now tell me how you feel about Juvia.”

Natsu can practically hear the “FUCK YOU” his, at this point, likely ex-best friend is trying to telepathically get into his head.

But then he looks at his shoulder, which Lucy had unconsciously claimed as her new pillow after the minivan had hit a speed bump, and all Natsu can think about is how perfectly she fits next to him—her head buried in the crook of his neck, side pressed to his.

Like she's always belonged there.

Like how she's always belonged with him.

(Natsu admittedly isn't sorry for what he's done to Gray at all.)

Notes:

wahoo the rest of the gang is here !! there isnt as much direct nalu content this chapter, and it was admittedly also very self-serving bc i wanted to try my hand at writing the other characters/their dynamics too hehe, but i hope it was still a fun read ! consider this a filler episode hehe : ) also please ignore how the prompt was vacation but majority of the chapter took place on the car ride there i got too silly with it:'D ACTUAL VACATION ++ more nalu r up next ! & perhaps more angst ? blame the prompts hzhzhz

anw did anyone catch their outfits being from iconic ending theme 15 kimi to kare to boku to kanojo to that was basically just a nalu modern au . why would mashima do that if not dating WHY WOULD MASHIMA DO THAT IF NOT DATING ????? did u know canonically the lyrics of the song include “i love u more than anyone out there and i know that u love me deeply as well” then u have them stay rlly good friends i have nightmares about this

if youre still here: thanks for reading have a good day! <3

Chapter 4: end / angry confessions

Summary:

Sometimes all you need to do is talk. But things have never been that simple.

.

.

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LUCY’S BLANKLY STARING at the ceiling when she feels someone sit next to her, so distinctly warm and familiar that she doesn’t even need to turn her head to know who it is. An arm wraps itself around her back, and she shifts to make herself more comfortable.

“So what’re you lookin’ at?”

“Nothing really,” she responds. “Just thinking.”

She can feel Natsu staring at her. “Thinkin’ about what?”

Lucy sighs a bit, before adjusting her head to rest on his shoulder. She takes his other hand in hers and intertwines their fingers together, then stretches their arms outward, as if to observe them in greater detail. She hums lightly to herself. “Us.”

He hums back. “I like thinking about us too." His eyes are also fixated on their linked hands. “It makes me happy. Thinking about spending the rest of my life with you makes me all giddy.”

“Really? What do you think our future’s gonna look like?”

“I’m not as good at planning as you are,” Natsu admits, after a few seconds of thinking. “But as long as we’re together, that’s the perfect future for me. What about you?”

Lucy playfully nudges him. “Sappy,” she jokes. “And you stole my answer. Even if the worst thing in the world happens, it’ll all be okay as long as I’m with you.”

“Then there’s no problem!” He grins. “Because I’m never leaving ‘ya alone. You’re stuck with me forever.”

Lucy laughs, warmth blossoming at the pit of her stomach. “You promise?”

“I promise. I love ‘ya, Lucy.”

She wants to tell him that she loves him back. Turn to him and find a way to take more of the warmth from his body, and to kiss him like she did when they first had this conversation.

But her lips move without her meaning to, and speak without her permission.

“Then why’d you go?”

The Natsu before her stiffens, his hold on her suddenly tightening so much that Lucy finds it difficult to breathe. He isn’t warm anymore, he’s cold. It’s uncomfortable. Suffocating.

He looks at her, and his eyes are completely devoid of emotion. He’s still smiling, but it sends a heavy chill down her spine, like he’s not laughing with her like he usually is, but laughing at her instead.

Natsu’s mouth opens, as if about to answer her question.

She wants to get out of his arms. Run away. Whatever he’s about to say, she knows in her heart she won’t be able to take.

Because what other reason could there be?

I don't want to hear this.

He grins, and her heart gets caught in her throat.

“Guess I didn’t love you, after all.

Maybe I never did.”

Then that Natsu laughs and disappears in a cloud of smoke, but the words seems to get left behind, echoing off the walls, as the room gets smaller and smaller until Lucy can’t even move, desperately clutching at her ears and huddling her body tighter to try to find the quiet.

It's closing in.

Her body feels so, so, heavy.

She can’t breathe, as if there’s a weight on her that she can’t escape from.

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it.

“Stop!” Lucy finally gasps out, jolting awake and heaving, eyes burning with the pinprick of tears falling unstoppably from her face. She blinks rapidly to try to make sense of the new environment around her, keeling over and clutching desperately at her heart to try and will it to calm down.

She suddenly feels a warm hand from behind her, rubbing slow circles at her back in the rhythm of a normal pulse.

In, out, in, out.

Lucy tries to follow the movement with her breaths, focusing only on the sensation of her friend comforting her and helping her calm down.

It takes a few minutes, but she finally relaxes, her breathing returning to normal.

Lucy finds the energy to look up. “Thank you, Er—.” She stops. Her pulse is rising again, and she flinches away from his touch. “Natsu?”

The movement doesn’t seem to bother him, if he even noticed at all.

Instead, he’s looking right at her, completely serious, concern evident on his face. “Are you okay?”

“I…,” Lucy pauses, trying to get the words out, but they catch in her throat and it’s hard to speak. She swallows down the need to sob. “... just had a bad dream.”

Natsu slowly, carefully, raises a slow finger to wipe away a tear that had somehow escaped her eyes. She’s red and puffy and she knows she probably looks disgusting, but Lucy can’t bring herself to care about that at all. Instead, she’s as fixated on him as he is to her, as if time had stopped and they were the only two people left in the world.

“You were crying,” he whispers, his hand still resting on her cheek. Then, in the most hesitant voice she’s ever heard him speak in: “Was it because of me?”

Guess I didn’t love you, after all.

She can’t respond—doesn’t want to, really—but her silence seems to be more than enough for Natsu to figure out the answer. He looks evidently conflicted, but after a few seconds, seems to settle down.

He smiles at her, lightly brushing his thumb across the corners of her eyes, holding her gaze for only one more moment, before saying two words that he’s admittedly said to her multiple times before, but only now carries that much more meaning.

Lucy knows what he really wants to say.

Natsu draws back, letting her go and moving back towards his seat, though with a much larger distance between them.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

I know my presence hurts too much.

I won’t bother you anymore.

This time, she feels like he means it.

And it sends her heart into turmoil.

 

---

 

NATSU IS UNCHARACTERISTICALLY quiet when they get off the van.

The girls had gone out first, basically dragging Lucy out, bringing her to what he assumed was the bathroom to help her calm down. He figures that they hadn’t done anything in the car out of fear that they might make things worse, and at this point, he’s just grateful that someone's there to support her in the way that he can't. That he shouldn't.

He looks down at his hands.

Even though he hasn’t directly done anything—it was Dream Natsu (that asshole), after all—he knows that his presence alone was more than enough to agitate whatever she had imagined.

“Dude, is Lucy okay? What did you do to her?”

They’re helping Gajeel unload the bags. None of them had argued against the girls going ahead (there never would’ve been a worse time to try that), so they stayed behind to handle all the luggage. 

Natsu doesn’t mind. He doesn’t feel like he’s in the right headspace to handle what he was sure would be heavy lecturing from Levy, or the smackdown of a lifetime from Erza, but most of all: he isn’t quite ready to see Lucy again either. Gajeel seems to understand the situation, and doesn’t bring it up.

Gray, on the other hand.

“Shut the fuck up,” Natsu only says in response to the question.

“The hell’s got your panties in a twist?”

Natsu shoves him against a wall. “I’m not in the mood, Gray.”

The use of his real name evidently makes his best friend still. He sighs deeply, then puts his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, yeah, fine, I won’t ask. I just wanted to know if she’s okay.”

He sighs. “She’ll be fine now,” Natsu looks down. “I’ll leave her alone.”

“For real?”

“I still want her back, but I fucked it up too much. I’ll step back and end it if that means she won’t be as sad anymore.”

He still remembers jolting awake at her sudden movement in the minivan, to see her shaking and crying so intensely because of him. He’d beat up himself for ever making her cry, if he could.

Maybe he can.

Natsu aims a punch at his own face.

Gajeel punches him first.

“Ow, shit. The fuck was that for?!”

“‘Yer not hurting yourself over this.”

“So you hit me instead?!”

He shrugs nonchalantly, as if the logic makes complete sense in his head. “... yeah. ”

“Fuck you.”

Gajeel sighs, closing the trunk and nodding towards the entrance, telling them to start moving. “Salamander,” he starts. “'Yer being stupid. Avoiding difficult conversations is what got you dumbasses into this… whatever the hell you guys are … thing in the first place. You might think ‘yer being noble and all that shit, but really, ‘yer just being a coward.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?!”

“It ain’t that hard, shit-for-brains. Just talk to her. Like normal adults.”

Natsu evidently wants to protest, but he also knows that he’s not wrong either. “It’s not that easy…”

“It sure as hell is easier than this confusing soap opera shit you and blondie are going for,” Gajeel shoots back. “You say ‘yer over each other and want to avoid her, but it’s obvious to anyone with a brain that you’re both still in love with each other. Skip the drama and just be straight with ‘er.”

“Lucy sure doesn’t deserve your whiny, over-complicated, ass making things even more confusing,” Gray butts in, even if it’s more to get under his skin and insult him than it is to do anything else.

“Shut up, ice princess.”

“I said the exact same thing Gajeel did!”

“But your face pisses me off, so fuck off.”

“Fuck you?!”

They continue to argue back-and-forth until they arrive at the lobby, but Natsu finds himself getting some clarity after the entire conversation.

Sure, they’d insulted and criticized him to hell and back for what he presumed was a well-meaning gesture (and he’s sure to absolutely beat them up for it later), but in the end they Gajeel was right:

He needs to stop running away from her, thinking he knows what’s best for her.

Isn’t that what got them into this situation in the first place?

They need to talk.

Now if only she’d be willing to hear him out.

 

---

 

“I’M GOING to destroy him.”

Erza is seething, hands balled up into fists, as if completely ready to beat Natsu up to an inch of his life. She’s angry at him, and especially angry at herself for being fooled and having put Lucy in that situation in the first place.

She’s messed up for the second time.

Or at least that’s what Lucy’s convinced she’s thinking, from the words that her friend manages to say in-between threats to her ex-boyfriend that she doesn't doubt Erza intends to keep. She personally doesn’t blame her—sure, seeing Natsu next to her was a shock, but the bigger shock to her was his apparent promise to get out of her life entirely.

Isn’t this what she wanted?

Lucy still hates him. Despises him for what he did to her, despises herself even more for having trusted in his lies because she was so desperate to convince herself it was the truth.

Was all of it a lie?

The person he was during their relationship, the person she’d fallen in love with so truly and so deeply that she was convinced he was the person she’d spend the rest of her life with.

The person who used to hold her and whisper reassuring words to her whenever she woke up crying, assured her it was all in her head and that he was here, that he was real and that she would never be alone again.

The person who left without even saying goodbye.

Lucy sighs, leaning down and slumping over the bathroom wall. She’s exhausted. Tired but unable to sleep, because she’s sure that the nightmares will just come back and haunt her all over again.

She feels a sudden weight, noticing Erza and Levy taking a seat on either side of her, leaning their heads onto her shoulders.

“Lu, do you want to go home? We don’t have to stay here.”

“We’ll follow your lead,” Erza affirms. Her hands are still balled into fists, but she takes the back seat, instead prioritizing her friend’s welfare.

Lucy can’t help but laugh a bit, thankful for the company. But she shakes her head. “No, we’re already here. And Natsu, he… he promised to leave me alone.”

“As he should.”

“... are you sure you want him to?”

Levy’s voice is quiet, but it echoes throughout the bathroom as if she’d somehow screamed it instead.

Lucy stills. “What do you mean?”

“It’s just…,” she struggles with her words. “Lu, I’ve been there since you guys broke up. There was always something… it’s like a part of you was still left behind from back then. Part of you is still stuck there. And it’s like, with Natsu now… I think I can see it again.”

She doesn’t respond.

So Levy continues. “Look, I don’t know if you guys getting back together is the right thing or not. That’s something you guys have to decide for yourselves. But what I do know is that you’re never going to be able to move on from this if you keep avoiding each other.”

Lucy pulls her knees up to her body, and buries her face in her arms. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just… talk to each other.”

“You’re saying I should hear him out?” She bites back a laugh. “You know what he did. What could he ever say that would make me forgive him?”

“I’m not saying you have to forgive him,” Levy retorts. “I’m telling you to talk to him. He never gave you that chance when you broke up. This is your chance to finally tell him everything you never got to. What are you so afraid of?”

What are you so afraid of?

“... Levy might not be wrong, Lucy.”

Lucy tilts her head, so she can look them in the eye.

“You’re on her side now?”

“There aren’t any sides here. We’re both on your team, as we always have been.” Erza tells her seriously, then looks up toward the ceiling. “I can’t be unbiased here because I’ve known Natsu since I was little. He may be stupid at times—a lot of the time, but he has a good heart and I know he cares about you. I’m not saying whatever he did was right, but I’m sure he never intentionally wanted to hurt you. That’s not the Natsu I know.”

It’s not the Natsu she knows, either.

That Natsu in her nightmare didn't act like him at all.

“... I’m scared,” Lucy finally admits, tears pricking her eyes for the second time that day. Her lips are quivering. “I thought I knew him too, I thought he loved me, but then he did the one thing that he knew would hurt me. Who would do that to someone they love?” Her voice is soft, heartbroken. “Did he love me at all?”

She’s enveloped in a warm hug, sobs wracking her body.

“We love you, Lucy,” Erza tells her.

“And we’re sorry for pressuring you. We just want to help.”

Lucy laughs and wipes at her eyes. “I know,” she says between tears. “And I know you’re right. I’ll talk to him.”

“Really?”

She takes a deep breath and nods. “Yeah. Soon,” she gestures at herself. “Maybe after I get cleaned up.”

Levy and Erza’s eyes are shining.

“We can fix that.”

 

---

 

GAJEEL AND LEVY handle coordination with the group.

For reasons that are painfully clear to him, Natsu is pushed around to new rooms and called to do random errands as they’re preparing. They tell him it’s because he has to do this-or-that important thing, but he knows that all they really want is to make sure he doesn’t bump into her.

He understands.

He wants to talk to her—needs to talk to her—but he’ll do it at her pace.

He doesn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable than he’s been doing nonstop.

But did they really have to stick him in the same room as this dumbass?

“I said that it was too cold, ice-for-brains!” Natsu snaps for what seems like the hundredth time that night, when he catches Gray holding the air-conditioner remote in a sneaky attempt to lower the temperature.

“Not my problem that you’re sensitive,” he retorts. “Besides, if you had your way, we’d be staying in a fucking sauna.”

They’ve been fighting for the past hour. Without the Erza-buffer between them, and being left to their own devices, they’d already managed to destroy the cabinet, bedside tables, and the mirror.

(Natsu aimed a punch at Gray. He dodged, and he ended up hitting the mirror instead.

Not like he needed the bad omen.)

So even Natsu’s tired of fighting. Especially in an inn like this one, which houses amenities that he can't even begin to dream of. “Hey,” he says instead, reaching for the card to enter their room. “Let’s get outta here.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“I’m going to the rooftop, Gajeel said there’s a bar over there and I need a drink.”

“No way, he told us to stay put tonight.”

“What? Metalhead’s making your life choices now?”

It’s obviously bait. But Gray falls for it, grabs at the shirt he’d taken off while lounging around the room, and heads for the door.

“Yeah fuck that, let’s go.”

-

Natsu quickly realizes why Gajeel had been so insistent on making them stay in the room.

He stops in his tracks when they walk outside, not for the gorgeous view of the night sky that the inn had boasted was their specialty, or the club-like exterior of the outdoor bar and pool, but because of the girl laughing and chatting with a random stranger, him going closer to her, touching her arm, and—.

“What are you doing here?”

The sudden call makes them shiver in fear, until a loud laugh escapes the person speaking.

They turn around, and are completely floored when they see Levy pointing at them and giggling, the other hand haphazardly holding a bottle of beer that’s seconds away from falling off of her hand.

“Levy?!”

She hiccups, then laughs again. “Yuuuup, that’s me!” She points at herself, then cackles. “So answer me! Why’re you here? I told Gajeel to tell you that you can’t go up here.”

“We… uh…”

They're panicking.

Levy squints her eyes, looking almost suspicious, before suddenly throwing her hands up to the air.

“Well, who cares! The more, the merrier!” Levy goodnaturedly laughs to herself, then without another word, casually walks (read: stubmles) her way back to the bar.

Natsu and Gray look at each other. “Okay, we should get Gajeel—.”

“Are you kidding, he’s going to slaughter us if he finds out we’re here, and—.”

“The fuck are you two shits doing up here?”

They freeze.

This voice, they know well enough to be terrified of.

They gingerly turn around to see Erza glaring at them, perhaps a thousand times more terrifying than she’s been before. In her hand is another bottle of alcohol: that they know too well she’s able to and would unabashedly use as a weapon if irritated enough. They’re frozen in place. “I said… what the fuck are you doing up here?”

This is going to be difficult.

“I think you mean what am I doing here?” Natsu quickly says, immediately taking on Gray’s pose and posture. “I’m just Gray.”

“What. What? Flamebrain, you fucking piece of sh—.”

“Oh, am I seeing double?” Erza mutters to herself, before grabbing Gray by the collar. “Maybe I drank too much. Doesn’t matter. You’re coming with me. You need to be punished.”

“No wait Erza, it’s not just me, he’s also here, N—fuck!”

Natsu doesn’t sit or wait around to see the aftermath.

Going up was apparently a huge mistake, and all he wants to do at this point is to escape into the safe confines of their room.

Until someone roughly bumps into him, almost toppling him over.

He’s about to curse them out when he hears the voice:

“Natsu. Isss that you?”

 

---

 

LUCY HEARTFILIA is not good with her alcohol.

She takes a single sip of beer, and she’s gone for the rest of the night—only to remember nothing the day after. Her friends have told her she becomes clingy and flirty when she’s drunk, so she’s always careful not to get hammered whenever she’s out.

That is to say, the situation with her being drunk out of her mind was purely by accident, due to a misunderstanding between mocktails and cocktails.

So is speaking with a random bargoer whose name is Dan-something, who strikes an excited conversation with her, complimenting her and saying they’re meant to be and whatever else (she doesn’t really know; she’s not really listening), but she’s laughing because she’s polite and Lucy figures it’s as good of a way to waste a time as any other—.

Until he starts talking about love and loving her and she presses a finger to his lips, saying:

“Shut up and go away,” she finally mutters, wobbling a bit from the amount she’s been drinking. She bends forward and jabs a finger at his chest. “You don’t love meee. And I don’t wanna love you. I’m in love with someone else! And I’ll alwayss love him, even if he doesn’t love me anymore. So… bye-bye!”

Lucy’s skipping away before the other person can respond.

And she bumps into someone else, the bottle falling out of her hands, rolling away to some area she doesn’t know.

She looks up and her eyes widen, as if it’s the biggest surprise in the world to see him.

“Natsu. Isss that you?”

“L–Lucy?”

“Erza said you weren’t allowed here,” she says, voice peppier than ever. “But don’t worry, I can keep a secret.”

“You… are you drunk?”

“Yup! ‘Twas an accident, they thought I said cocktails when I said mocktails. I didn’t wanna be drunk, everyone tells me I start flirting with people when I am.”

Natsu sighs, laughs a bit. “You did get real clingy whenever you got drunk with me.”

“But you were all lying! Someone was talking to me earlier and he told me he loved me and I told him to go away because I don’t love him. That’s not flirty!”

He glances behind her, noticing someone skulking around them, intently watching their conversation as if waiting for an opportunity to butt in. Lucy vaguely notices Natsu’s face turn extremely threatening, and she can hear rapid footsteps right after as if someone’s trying to run away.

“Natsuuu, did ‘ya scare him away?”

“I just said hello.”

“You’re lying!” She huffs, “I saw your face. That’s what you always do when you’re jealous.” Lucy suddenly grins, then walks a little closer to him. “Are you jealous~?”

“I–uh–,” he stutters for a minute, before stepping back and making a clearer line between them. “You should sober up, Lucy. I’ll get Gajeel to help bring you guys back to your room.”

“But why?” She whines, the mood noticeably shifting as her face morphs into something that just looks… angry. “You don’t have the right to tell me what to do!”

“Lucy, I’m just trying to help—.”

“No, you can’t do that anymore!” She shouts, causing everyone else on the rooftop to look at them. Natsu panics and quickly pulls her away to the side, a dark corner some ways away from the rest of the crowd, to try and calm her down.

“Please just listen to me…”

“No! You can't—I mean, no. It’s not your turn anymore. Now you. Natsu Dragneel. Have to listen to me. Lucy Hearfilia.” She retorts, jabbing her thumb at either one of them while she speaks. “You got the last word last time, so now it's my turn to speak. Capisce? So youuuu. You shut up and sit down and let me talk.”

Natsu sighs deeply. “Lucy I know, and I agree, but not right now… not while you're like this.”

“When then?" Lucy rants back. "We keep avoiding each other, or flirting with each other, or crying over each other, and I'm... I'm just sick of it!" She pulls at her hair, frustrated. "So we're going to do this now. Or never ever not at all."

"But I…,” he starts to protest, until she glares down at him intensely enough that he decides to back down. “... okay."

"Good," she nods. "So I'll start with this: you are a fucking asshole, Natsu whatever-your-middle-name is Dragneel."

He doesn't try to retort. She continues.

"Y'know, I think that if we didn’t become neighbors, you would've never talked to me again. You'd never reach out.” She laughs, a little bitterly to herself. "I bet 'ya thought you could hide from me the rest of our lives. You probably shit your pants when you saw the girl you ran away from come knocking on your door." She pauses. "Like, metaphorically, I mean."

“That's not true...," Natsu starts weakly. "I wanted to reach out to you! You’re the one who blocked me everywhere first… and when I came back to Hargeon, you were gone, and I had no idea where to find you! You didn’t leave anything behind, not even—.”

“Not even what? A letter?”

Natsu doesn’t move.

“Lucy…”

“Right, let's talk about that precious little letter of yours then, okay, Natsu? Your handwriting... was really bad and made it hard to read, but I could get the gist of it.” She snorts. "Wish I couldn't, with everything it said." She puts a hand out, and mimics the gesture of referring to something small. "Though it didn't really say anything at alllll."

“Look, I know it wasn’t the best way, but I—.”

"Do you remember what it said? Because I do. Because I read it everyday for a year and after awhile I kinda thought to myself: heyyyy! This guy I've been in love with for years, you know... he's kind-of a shit person, isn't he?"

"Lucy, I..."

“Maybe not kind-of. Because what kind of boyfriend pulls that shit?" Lucy continues to make jokes, but she can feel the emotional weight of the conversation taking its toll on her, and the anger somehow finds a way to take over.

“Do you realize what you did, Natsu? You just left me! In the middle of the night! And just dropped off the face of the earth. I got what I thought was the worst news of my life and then I read your fucking letter and…,” she’s full-on crying now. “I looked for you everywhere, and to find out you were so close all that time… ha! So fucking funny.”

“The worst news of your life? What do you mean? Lucy, I... I had to go, but I was planning to come back…”

“So you just expected me to wait for you? Then to what? Smile and hug and kiss you once you came back like you just went to get the fucking groceries or something?!”

“No, that’s not what I…”

“You didn’t even have the balls to face me, Natsu.” She’s rambling now, and the words spill out of her mouth like a waterfall. “Ran away like a fucking coward, left me behind like I was some dirty fucking secret to hide from your friends back in Magnolia.” She’s screaming at this point. “I would’ve understood. You should’ve known that I would’ve understood. God, all I wanted was to be able to talk to you.”

“I fucked it up. I know that now.”

“Just…,” she sighs deeply. “Why didn’t you talk to me? Did our relationship mean that fucking little to you?”

“It meant everything to me. But I knew that if I saw you again, I wouldn’t be able to leave.”

The silence that hangs between them is heavy.

The alcohol is still buzzing in her veins, but all it serves to do is intensify her feelings towards him. (Maybe that’s how it’s always worked, she wonders, maybe I was flirty back then because I loved him. Maybe things have changed now.)

Lucy’s sure that most people on the rooftop had heard their screaming match, but she can’t find it in herself to care. All she can see is the person before her, eyes looking downward and unable to say a word.

She doesn’t have any more words left in her either.

So she leaves.

And consequently blacks out.

The last thing she hears is him calling out to her, before everything goes quiet.

Notes:

first of all i am SO sorry for the jarring tonal shift/s & all-over-the-place...ness of this ch (its not my favorite), i meant to edit but life got in the way and i ran out of time so : ( perhaps the one-chapter-a-day plan was a little too idealistic, wahahaha . i'll likely revise in the future, so please stay tuned for that should it happen!

but yes this chapter truly went the only way it could go with the prompts "end" (used here to refer to their breakup) and "angry confessions" (lucy's confrontation w natsu) = angst season :'DD they know they should talk to each other properly, but they're also both fairly traumatized from what happened and afraid to to make the first move just in case they'll get hurt again . that's why i wanted lucy to be drunk, bc otherwise they'd drag their tails on forever hahaha . absolutely an unhealthy conversation tho 0/10 not recommended !!!

final note: the letter is indeed inspired by the post-tartaros letter natsu left lucy when he left for a year to train, i remember being like 15 and EXTREMELY angry about that reveal + the fact they never rlly addressed it (look ! i understand why he left, i simply do not approve of how he did it . i am Passionate abt this do not test me) . it'll be different here ofc, but the base idea is the same! if u cant tell im a big enjoyer of drawing from canon hehe

anw if youre still here: thanks for reading have a good day! <3