Warning! This is a lemon chapter!
Natsu sat by the bar in the guild hall, his head resting in his arms as he shook violently. "That's not good for you, you know", said Gajeel. "What would you know?", Natsu said in a strained voice. "I would know a lot, actually." "Don't provoke him, Gajeel", said Levy. "If you really understand his position, you'd know not to make him mad." Gajeel raised his hands in surrender. Natsu peeked out from his arms, only to see a certain blonde celestial mage enter the hall. The fire mage's body stiffened in fear, and he stood up to immediately run away. Levy was about to ask the reason for his behavior, until Gajeel pointed out that his fellow dragon slayer's girlfriend had just entered the premises.
"Lucy!", Levy greeted, hoping to give Natsu a chance to escape. Lucy greeted her friend back. "Hey, have you seen Natsu? I wanted to talk to him." "Well, as you can see, he ain't here", said Gajeel, standing in a way that implied he was definitely hiding something. Lucy noticed this and leaned to the side, hoping to look past the iron dragon slayer. He just moved to block her vision more. Obviously he just seemed more suspicious.
A thud was heard from the one side of the room. The source was Natsu, who appeared to have tripped upon trying to run. "Natsu!", called Lucy. The salmon haired man's eyes widened upon seeing his girlfriend, and ran as fast as he could out the hall. "Natsu, wait!" Lucy was about to run after him but was stopped by Gajeel. "What are you doing?!" "You can't go after him!" "Why not?!" The man froze. He had to come up with a good excuse right now, otherwise everything would go sideways.
"Well, you see, because, he, um..." "Just tell her the truth", said Levy. Her boyfriend and best friend looked at her in confusion. "She has to know. Otherwise things will just get way worse than they probably already are. Lucy probably thinks Natsu hates her." "He hates me?", said Lucy, sounding a little sad. "Hell no! That idiot still loves you!", said Gajeel. "Which is why he's doing what he's doing now." "And that is?"
Gajeel sighed. "I give up. Go ahead, Levy. Tell her what's going on." Lucy looked at her best friend. "You probably noticed how Gajeel was yesterday, right?" "You mean when he growled at every single guy that came close to you? Yeah, but what does that have to with Natsu?", said Lucy. "Oh, I was imprinting", said Gajeel. Levy became flustered. "Imprinting?" "Yeah. You know, make her my mate. It's how mating season works." "Mating season?!" Lucy now had more questions, but luckily, Levy was there.
"It was mating season for Gajeel. Specifically, it was mating season for dragon slayers." Lucy's eyes widened. "Dragon slayers? Wait, Natsu is a dragon slayer." "Exactly. Now technically, it's still mating season. The only reason Gajeel here isn't out of control..." "Is because I already finished my business, if you know what I mean." Levy blushed. "Anyway, it's still mating season, so Natsu still hasn't... yeah, you know." Lucy was still confused. "But why has he been avoiding me?" "Probably because his hormones are out of control and he's scared of hurting you", said Gajeel. "For once you say something useful", said Levy.
Lucy held her hand to her chest. "He's just trying to protect me?" Gajeel and Levy nodded. The blonde turned to leave. "Lucy, wait!", called out her blue haired friend. "Where are you going?" "Where do you think? I'm going to go find Natsu." "And then what? Have him have his way with you? Look, I know you two have been dating for a couple of months, but this is a big step for the both of you. Not just that, it's mating season, meaning once you do this, you two will be bonded for life." Lucy looked at her friend with determination.
"I don't care about that. Right now I care about helping the man I love." Lucy turned back towards the door and dashed out. Levy let out a sigh. "Those two are meant for each other", said Gajeel. Levy smiled. "Yep."
. . .
Natsu rested on the bed, curled up in a ball while he shook violently. He heard the sound of a door opening, and a familiar scent entering his nose. "Thought I might find you here", said Lucy in a gentle tone. Her lover just tried his best to ignore her. She just walked close to the bed and touched his shoulder. "Natsu, look at me." He just shuffled away. Lucy frowned and forced her boyfriend to look at her. "W-wait..." "I know about the mating season, Natsu. It's okay." She noticed the scars on his hands.
