Sweetheart

92 NSFW

A/N: There's just a short NSFW scene towards the middle-ish, but everything else is fine. 

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Aina slowly opened her front door, tossing her keys in the usual bowl, and wandered over to her mother's office. It was late at night by that point, so she half-expected her mother to already be in bed, but the faint glow from the office light alerted her of her mother's presence. Brown hair peeked around the side of the door as Aina tried to see if her mother was busy.

"Aina," Kelia started, "I can see you."

The salutatorian shuffled to stand fully in the doorway. The look that she wore was telling, and Kelia was able to easily see that something was wrong.

"What happened?"

"My anxiety got me again."

Her mother waved her over to her desk, and soon Aina was sitting on her lap. Like earlier with Natsu, and as a regular occurrence for stressful situations, Kelia started to rub her daughter's back.

"Have your panic attacks been coming back?"

"I had one earlier today," Aina admitted. "I feel so guilty."

"Dear, I've told you already: you should never apologize or feel guilty for your feelings and worries. Your feelings are valid, and it's perfectly fine to feel and express your emotions."

"I know," the brunette whispered, "but Natsu had to deal with it this time and he shouldn't have to."

"It's normal for people to be vulnerable with those that they love."

"Yeah but his vulnerability is barely vulnerable," Aina insisted. "It's always just little things."

"Given his circumstances, that's a huge thing. You have to remember that he's been on his own for years, and he was told his feelings didn't matter for years before that. Everyone deals with anxieties and vulnerability in different ways. Now," her mother continued, "how bad was it, and what triggered it?"

"I saw Tyler hanging around the parking space where I used to park when I was with him. He was just...waiting. And he's been hanging around my locker at the start of the day. I've been going to school earlier lately to get there before him."

"I wish that monster would leave my baby alone. He's done enough to you."

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There was a knock on Aina's locker, causing her to jump in surprise and frantically look back towards the source of the noise.

"A, you've gotta help me," Lucy hurriedly whispered.

"What's wrong?"

Snickers could be heard from behind them, and they were met with Natsu's smirk.

"Your friend here is paired up with me for bio."

"You two have bio together?" Aina repeated, thoroughly shocked.

"When he comes," the blonde muttered. She then turned to Natsu and seethed, "Why did you even decide the one day we pick groups? You never come."

"I did it just to fuck you over," he tittered.

"Fuck you."

"Guys," Aina laughed, "it's not that bad. Just work together. What is it?"

"Punnett--"

"Tic tac toe."

"They're called Punnett squares, you asshole!" Lucy shouted.

Blue hair popped from the other side of the locker door, and soon Levy had joined the conversation.

"I mean," Levy reasoned, "it should be fairly easy to complete. It's just five problems, and all you have to do is do the squares."