Love takes two

Chapter 1: Lucy's Letter

"Hey mom, it's me. I know I haven't written to you in a while and I'm sorry about that. I guess I've just been busy with the guild, I never have any free time anymore to just sit down and talk. However, I needed to get something off my chest, and what better way to do that than by writing to you. I have a few things on my mind right now, Natsu being one of them. He hasn't visited in a while, well by visited I mean breaking and entering. Every time I've come home I've expected to at least see him by now, but time and time again I'm met with an empty house, or someone that isn't Natsu. It's just weird to not see him around so much. It's nice to finally have some privacy for once but I guess I just feel..."

And... that's all she could get down on paper. So much for a reunion letter.

The blonde gazed longingly at the ink patches stained into her paper, her hand tightly curled around her pen.
"Writer's block totally sucks... I don't even know what to write." she whined stretching her arms behind herself.
"Heh, what'cha writin' about anyway?" A teasing voice chimes from behind, her eyes immediately blaze with surprise and annoyance. Swivelling in her chair to face the pink haired intruder... yet to her surprise.... There was no pink haired dragonslayer, rather a brooding ice wizard, with icy midnight eyes gazing out beneath his smoky dark hair.
"Gray? Get out! Why are you here?!" Lucy huffs with an impatient pout. Gray chuckles kicking his feet up as if he owned the place.
"Relax, I just thought I'd stop by and drop off that jewel I owe you. Flame-brain practically owes you a mountain of debt at this point, and I'm not gonna be in the same boat as he is." the ice wizard claims setting down a chunky bag of jewel, the money inside clattering with a faint jingle. The blonde's gaze simmers with a sting to her heart, natsu hadn't been around in a while. She was actually disappointed to be met with the face of gray, for once she was actually looking forward to that troublemaker showing up.
"Oh.. thanks Gray. You didn't have to... But you should at least knock before barging in!" Lucy says not hesitating to accept the shiny bag of jewel. Mentally counting the jewel as her chocolate brown eyes skimmed over the bags contents, it was at-least 2,000 jewel.
"Hey um Gray, where is Natsu anyway? He's been suspiciously quiet lately." The blonde asks, not sure if she wanted to know the answer. She hoped the reason he wasn't stopping by as often was a good one.
"Knowing him probably off doing something stupid." Gray says exhaling a judgemental breath.
"Actually... come to think of it. That idiot has been acting weird lately. He's all happy-go-lucky all of a sudden.... something's definitely up." Gray speculates his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Only confirming the blondes worries.
"Great... now I'm worried. We should check up on him, I dont want him to get himself hurt or something." Lucy says, fidgeting with the pen in her hand. Gray stands to his full height in Lucy's cramped apartment, pushing himself off the ground onto his feet.
"Yeah. Lets go stop him before he breaks something expensive." Gray says swivelling towards the exit. "Atleast put on some clothes before deciding to go outside!" Lucy says, wondering just how had he lost his attire in the short second she looked away.

... Some time later ....

Heading to the guildhall, of course it was as loud and rambunctious as usual. Insults lousily thrown across the room like a game of dodgeball, yep classic fairytail for you. You'd expect someone like Natsu to be in the centre of it all, but no... he was nowhere near the chaos. In fact, he was sat at a table with happy and elfman. Happily bantering away. The blonde didn't hesitate to march on over with an accusatory look on her face, her hands resting against her hips.
"Natsu, where have you been? Me and Gray were starting to get worried about you!" Lucy says, to which gray looks away dismissively.
"Hey- what do you mean? I've been at the guildhall the whole time!" Natsu questioned completely dumbfounded by their worries.
Gray folds his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah right natsu somethings up and I know it. What did you do this time? Did you mess up real bad and your trying to sweep something under the rug?" Gray says with an accusatory expression.
Natsu's brows furrow in annoyance grumbling at the ice wizards icy tone. "Jeez dude do you have to assume I'm always up to no good? I did nothing I swear." Natsu says raising his hands in a surrender motion. Happy and Elfman glancing at the two, watching the situation closely. However Lucy wasn't worried about that, she was wondering why he hadn't visited her much lately. Her spontaneous house visits missing a certain pink haired someone.
"Come on Natsu just fess up, it's not like we'll tell erza or anything." Lucy says with a sigh, to which gray mumbles under his breath. "I would..."
The dragonslayers sharp gaze shoots to gray blazing with tension. "What was that?" He asks with a snarl, slamming his hands down onto the table, the tabletop contents clambering against the force. But before the boys could enter their typical squabble, a familiar platinum haired girl seats herself beside the dragonslayer. Her face lit up with the sweetest expression one could muster, enough to melt the coldest of hearts. It was none other than Lisanna. "Woah careful Natsu, you'll get into trouble again." Lisanna smiles in a light-hearted tone, her hand resting on the dragonslayers shoulder. His posture almost immediately settles, slumping back into his seat with the brightest smile one could muster.
"Heh yeah, my bad. Guess old habits die hard." Natsu chuckles, his arms folding behind his head.
"Haha now thats a real man!" Elfman chimes as per usual. Lisanna chuckles at her brothers words, before glancing towards Lucy and Gray.
"It's nice to see you two, you should sit with us." Lisanna offers, happy chiming in with an affirmative 'aye'. The whole table didn't seem to mind at all, gladly welcoming the two to chat. Lucy's posture softens, finding a seat at the table with a calmed smile.
"Ah thanks Lisanna. I don't know how you managed to calm him down so fast. He's been in a better mood than usual come to think of it." The blonde recites, recalling Natsu's estranged mood as of late. The dragonslayer slings his arm around the platinum haired girl, pulling her closer with a warm smile as bright as his flames.
"Heh, so you noticed huh? I thought it was time someone finally caught on." Natsu chuckles with a hearty laugh. Gray leans against the tabletop, raising an eyebrow at his words.
"Caught on? To what?" He asks, to which the dragonslayer smirks.
"To whats been making me so happy, duh. Ain't it obvious? It's obviously lisanna dummy, I finally made a move and it was easily the best choice I've made in a long time. This whole romance thing ain't that bad ya know." Natsu smiled brightly, the whole table smiling gleefully. Except... for Gray and Lucy. The ice wizards icy exterior melts away into one of pure shock. His brows raise higher than they ever had, his jaw dropping open. He was completely stunned into silence.
"WHAT?! How did you manage to-... well I'll be dammed. Gotta say, was not expecting to hear that today. Heh you two actually make a pretty cute couple." Gray chuckles, eventually collecting his bearings after his initial shock. That was definitely the last thing he expected to hear. Natsu flattered at Gray's words, chuckled along.
"Heh thanks, guess I beat ya to it. All it took was a push from gajeel, I hate to admit it but I owe him one." Natsu says. Lisanna's face flushing a peachy tone, feeling bashful over all the attention. It all seemed like a real life fairytale. Lucy remained quiet however, she couldn't muster any words at all. Her heart deflated in her chest into a crumpled mess. She didn't understand... she should be happy for them... but she felt the opposite. She felt tears practically welling in her eyes, a heavy sensation weighing where her heart should be. Practically dragging her out of her seat towards the ground. Natsu's eyes eventually dart to Lucy noticing her silence, raising an eyebrow at the scene.
"Yo Lucy, you good?" Natsu asks, his eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Oh... um y-yeah! Sorry I was just... completely shocked. I'm so happy for you two, you're definitely a cute couple." The blonde stammered out, with a smile that didnt reach her eyes.
"Aww, Thanks Lucy... I can see why you and Natsu are so close, he has good taste in friends." Lisanna smiled. Her sweetness enough to give lucy a cavity.
"Oh thanks Lisanna... I could say the same for you. You two sure do look good together." Lucy says. The tables faces lit up like christmas trees, natsu ruffling Lisanna's hair with a smile. Everyone's smiles felt raw, genuine and full of joy... except Lucy's. She wanted to feel happy for them, she really did. In fact she did feel happy for them, the problem was.. she wasn't happy for herself. Thats why she felt so strange. So heavy... so blue.