Rumor Has It *Nalu*

Chapter Five

Edited 10-02-17

°Normal pov°

It's been a month. A month since Natsu decided he would wait to confront her. He was scared. He didn't want her to be dragged into anything and he certainly didn't want rumors to start about her too.

School ended for the day and Natsu once again, ignored Lucy. He didn't understand why she kept talking to him. Obviously she heard the rumors so why didn't she listen to them and stop the attempts. He was curious though. When she wasn't looking at him, he would observe her. Odd as it sounds, Natsu tried to figure her out. It never worked for him so it made him even more curious. Wasn't she supposed to be scared of him? He's heard the rumors and they make him sound like a monster.

The walk home wasn't very long. He had stop by the market place to get food for him and his sister. She was only in middle school and he was left to take care of her. Natsu always put her first no matter what. He wasn't as bad as the students made him out to be. He wants to show that but he's afraid. What if no one believed him? What if word got to his sister? She wouldn't leave him alone about it.

Natsu froze a bit before entering the market place. Lucy was in there. He saw her just a moment ago. If she was alone, now could be his chance to talk to her but he hardly sees her alone. Always with a friend or the whole group. He doesn't do well with a group of people. Heck, he hardly manages everyone at school. He wanted to turn and so he did. The only problem with that was he didn't turn fast enough. Besides, he sticks out like a sore thumb. Who else wears a scale-like scarf and has pink hair?

"Natsu!" The blonde called out, hoping to get a reaction since they weren't at school.

'Just ignore her' he thought as he tried to think of a way out without be completely rude and shoving people. 'Maybe if I just walk away the--'

"So even out of school you don't talk" she asked as she set one of her hands on the boys shoulder.

Natsu looked at the hand, then at the owner. He stared for a minute, grabbed the arm and walked of quickly with her stumbling behind him.

"What in the world. Natsu, what're you doing?" Asked a clueless Lucy as she tried to keep up.

Natsu ended up dragging her back to his house because it was the only place that he actually talks. He didn't want anyone else to hear anything in case either one shared their story.

"Natsu?" A quiet voice asked when the two stumbled inside. She was a young girl around the age of 12. Her name was Wendy and was shy around new people. She wasn't used to seeing someone with her brother so she hoped nothing bad happened and that he actually had a friend.

Natsu kind of just stood there as he let go of Lucy's arm. She rubbed the now sore spot while looking at Natsu with a confused face. Natsu thought the look was a little cute but quickly shook the thought away.

After standing there in complete silence, besides Lucy's panting because she had to run to keep up with the speeding pinkette, Wendy asked Natsu what was going on. Said boy looked a little nervous but still answered, much to Lucy's surprise.

"Ah, well you see" he stopped and turned to Lucy before continuing. "this is Lucy. Lucy, this is Wendy" The two awkwardly looked at each other, waved, then looked back to the boy who was acting rather strange.

"You actually talked. I didn't even have to stay anything and you talked!" The blonde exclaimed. His voice was a little rough and deep. She liked how it sounded but would never tell him that.

"Of course I did. I just don't talk at school. I figured I might as well let you know that so you can stop trying everyday " with a little lie and a chuckle, he hoped it sounded believable. Much to his dismay, the blonde shook her a head a bit declaring that he wouldn't have dragged her all the way there just to sea a couple short sentences.

'This is hopeless' he thought. He didn't want to just say why he dragged her all the way. He hadn't thought of a reason yet. Although, he liked how he was able to actually respond without having someone to judge him.

"Natsu, why did you really bring Lucy over here?" Wendy asked. She was very curious. It wasn't everyday that her brother brought someone home. She's heard the rumors about him. She's also tried to clear it up by saying none of it was true. Nobody believed her and yet, she didn't want to confront him about it. Wendy wanted Natsu to tell her about it himself. She's a little happy that knowing someone has heard them but is still trying to talk to him.

"Well..she was the only one whose ever tried talked to me, even after hearing the rumors. It made me curious as to why she would" Natsu replied with a light blush across his face and hid half his face in his scarf.

Lucy giggled a bit and the two looked at her in confusion. "I don't belive rumors. Unless I've seen you do whatever they say you do, I have no reason to believe that you're a bad person. Seeing as how you're acting right now, it's hard to believe that you'd be even remotely bad " she said with a small chuckle. Wendy and Natsu stared at Lucy in awe. Lucy suddenly felt arms around her and was pulled into a strong chest. She let out a small squeal as it had surprised her. Natsu was hugging her. The boy everyone spread rumors about, was hugging her. Not only that, he was crying. Her face softened and she returned the hug. Wendy, not being able to hold in her own tears, joined the hug. She wasn't sure someone would ever talk to her brother again but here, in all her glory, was a person who had a kind heart and wasn't afraid of what others say.

'I don't want this to end' Natsu thought as they all pulled away. For the rest of the day, they sat on the couch, cracked jokes, got to know each other, and even watched a couple movies. Wendy watched the two argue over what movie they were to watch next and smiled lightly, happy that her brother decided to bring Lucy over and allow someone else into his life after everything that happened.