Hear me

4

"Come on, Nat. Please just talk to us!" Lucy called through the door to Natsumi's room.

"Please, Natsumi!" Happy chorused, trying to see under the bottom crack in the door.

They hadn't been able to catch the dragon slayer on the way home, and they'd come back that evening to a disturbing sight. The apartment was dead silent, everything in its place. With Natsumi home, both of those things were a logical impossibility. Both the Exceed and the celestial mage had run to their friend's room in a blind panic, finding it both closed and locked. They'd been unsuccessfully attempting to get her to come out ever since.

Lucy rapped on the door again. "We're both worried about you. You haven't even eaten yet."

Happy whined imploringly through the crack in the door. "Are you mad at us, too, Natsumi?" Lucy didn't have to look at Happy to know there were fat tears running down his face.

The blonde girl heard a heavy sigh through the door, then the muffled voice of her friend.

"No, buddy, I'm not mad at anyone but that bastard. I just need to be alone."

"We just want to make sure you're okay. Being alone to wallow isn't healthy," Lucy said, knowing a person as extroverted as Natsumi wasn't suited to being alone with her thoughts. Hell, the girl spent the majority of her nights in Lucy's bed with her just because she didn't like to be lonely.

When she heard only silence on the other side of the door, Lucy continued. "I know you've had a rough day, and Laxus surprised us all with how he handled things, but please let us in. Plus, Happy misses you."

"I just want Natsumi to be okay!" the cat blubbered, reaching under the door with a tiny blue paw.

"Okay! Fine, you guys win," the pink-haired girl said with another heaving sigh. Lucy pulled Happy into her arms as the door clicked, then slid open. Natsumi was sitting just inside the door, curled with her knees against her chest and her back against the wall. She released the doorknob and settled back into her position. "It's not as fun when you guys are the ones being all pushy," she pouted.

Lucy rolled her eyes, letting Happy go so he could go cuddle the dragon slayer. "Yeah, well welcome to my world." The blonde entered the room and sat across from her friend, getting comfortable on the soft carpet of the floor.

Happy snuggled into the crook of Natsumi's neck, and she let out a giggle as she moved to accommodate him.

"Lucy and I were scared," the cat blurted out, and Lucy went to shush him, not wanting to broach the subject of Natsumi's earlier temper tantrum so bluntly.

Natsumi smiled sheepishly and pat Happy on the head. "Sorry for scaring you. I just...lost it. He made me so angry and he didn't even bother giving me the real reason why. Not even when I went to apologize for hurting him! He just tried to tell me what he thought I wanted to hear to get me to drop it. What a jerk," she bit out.

The celestial mage frowned. She scooted closer, wrapping one of her hands around a pigtail.

"I know you're upset-and you have every right to be, but are you sure you're mad about the right thing?" she asked gently, not wanting to cause her friend more pain if she didn't have to.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you ever think that maybe Laxus might be telling you the truth?"

Natsumi's eyes widened. She clutched Happy tighter, making him squirm. "You know about that?"

"Everyone knows about that," Lucy laughed. "You were basically shouting it from the rafters."

"Laxus loves you," Happy giggled, and Lucy reached over and pulled at his tail with a sharp glare.