His Heart's Key | nalu

14. The Awkwardness was Stronger Than My Hate

[ F o u r t e e n ]
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"Things are so awkward between you and Natsu." Juvia stated, dropping down on the seat beside me as I continued to munch on my lunch. It had been a couple of days since the incident, and I tried to relive it as little as possible.

"I know right!" I exclaimed. I was too busy avoiding any awkwardness with him to fully hate on him, which was tiring because the ladder was always more favourable.

"Tell me about it." Juvia grumbled. "You guys were fun to watch before, but now it's just dull. My eyes cringe whenever I see you guys together."

"Thanks for the support." I replied flatly.

Juvia grinned at me and started eating her lunch. The rest of the FTA senior girls crew joined us not much later.

"I'm going for sure. Free alcohol is enough to get me anywhere." Cana exclaimed eagerly, her eyes sparkling.

Lisanna sighed, smiling warily at her friend. "Cana, do you just wanna get drunk everywhere?"

"Well it's fun. You need to learn to live a little. A fake boyfriend isn't getting you anywhere." She shot back.

Lisanna's cheeks slightly turned pink. Ouch.

It shocked me how everyone else knew that Lisanna and Natsu weren't actually a thing. Was I the only left out of the loop? That was sad.

"Are you going, Lucy?" Erza asked me.

"Going where?"

"To the annual Dragneel Party of course!" Cana said.

"Natsu's hosting one?"

"Yea," Erza replied. "He hosts one every year for Christmas. I'm pretty sure it's just Natsu's own way of showing everybody his huge mansion that he got from wherever, but it's still fun."

I scoffed inside. If only you knew who bought him that huge manor, I doubt you'd be so eager to get drunk till you can't walk in it.

"Anyways, I doubt I'm coming." I shrugged it off, despite actually wanting to come. I think it was obvious enough that I wasn't going to receive an invitation.

They continued to blabber on about the party, what they were going to wear, and the shoes that would match best.

I felt a little too left out, and decided the library would be best. Nothing better than a book to give me lovely company.

Except I wasn't alone, like the same day I gave my very heartfelt speech, Natsu was also in the library.

I picked a seat a few tables down his, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. However, that failed the second he glanced up at me.

"Are you stalking me or something?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, that's totally why I'm in this very public library right now. How could you have known my deepest, darkest, desires? I haven't even confessed yet."

"Yea, whatever."

It then occurred to me that I really wanted to go to that Christmas party, and the only way possible was if I got on his good side.

"So how's your homework coming along?" I asked, sliding into the chair in front of him.

Natsu raised a brow at me, as if to ask what the hell I was doing here. Funny thing was, I wasn't so sure myself.

I smiled innocently and he gave me a disgruntled look.

"It was fine before you came along."

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was supposed to be playing it nice, or had he forgotten what I had stopped myself from doing? Which could become a reality at my hands, the looming threat above us. Not that I would actually even consider exposing him like that again, it was a little difficult not to when he was being so prissy.

Just play nice, Lucy. If you really want that invitation, you'd have to act nicer around him.

"That's wrong by the way." I said, pointing out an error he wrote in his essay. "Shanen said that he would rather feel the pain of a thousand mice clawing at his insides than losing Deliah. Not getting stabbed by a trident... repeatedly..." I checked his paper again to see if that was what he actually wrote. How brutal.

"Of course you would have memorized Shanen Wrights Crack of Dawn." He mumbled, rubbing out his previously pointed out mistake.

I glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean."

"Oh, you know," he smirked, looking up at me. "It starts off with a girl who's desperately in love with another womans man. Funnily enough, the story didn't feel that new to me when I read it."

"You know what Natsu," I started as I got up. "You can go shove all of your messed-up, frankly very unneeded comments up your ass. To think I was going to offer to help you with your english essay." And try to add in as many reasons as to why I should be really invited to that Christmas party, but whatever.

I walked away, feeling fed up and a little down that I didn't get what I was overall hoping to achieve.

"Wait!" He called out.

I smirked, than quickly wiping it off, I turned around.

"I'm sorry. Can you, help with the paper?" He sounded hesitant, but determined. I guess that essay was more important than I assumed.

I smiled. Right into my plan. "Sure, whenever your free."

And for the first time as I saw Natsu smile, like a proper smile and not the smirk that never left his face, I felt kind of guilty that my intentions weren't as innocent as they seemed.

"My place, but I hope your ulterior motives don't plan on making a complete wreck of it as they do your own home."

And just as quickly, it was gone. Left in its place was a very hard, gritted out smile as I remembered the reason why I found this person in front of me so despicable in the first place.

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