Light My Fire [Nalu] {The FT Love Chronicles; Book 3}

Chapter Seven

 “Ugh,” Lucy sighed, collapsing on the floor. “Only two days until Natsu's party, and I still haven't found him a present! On top of that, I still don't have any information on Eliana's key!”

“Maybe you're thinking too hard,” Gray said, sitting next to her on the floor. “That idiot isn't picky, so he'll like whatever you get him.”

“But, I don't want to get him just any old thing! It needs to be special.” She rolled over, pouting her lip at him. “You aren't being very helpful.”

“We've been meeting up for three days now and you haven't found anything,” he frowned. “I'm just as out of ideas as you are.”

“Maybe I should get him a new display to keep his souvenirs!” Lucy exclaimed, suddenly getting a good idea. “His house is packed full of things from our adventures, and I bet he could use something else to keep them in!”

“Good idea,” Gray nodded.

“Finally!” She cheered, hugging Gray.

“Uhhh, should I come back?” Natsu's voice caused Lucy to jump away from Gray.

“Natsu! What are you doing here?” She asked, knowing that the two of them probably looked pretty guilty.

“I haven't seen you since yesterday, so I was stopping by to see if you wanted to go on a job with me and Happy. I didn't know I'd be interrupting,” he said, something dark in his voice. “See you later.” He was out the door before Lucy could even get to her feet.

“Crap! Gray, why didn't you tell me he was behind me!” She groaned.

“What?! I didn't see him come in! You're the one who attacked me!” He frowned.

Sighing, she ran after Natsu, hoping he hadn't gotten the wrong idea. “Natsu, wait up!” She called. “I-I'd really like to go on a job with you.” She tried smiling at him, but he ignored her. “Hey!” She snapped, grabbing his arm. “Why are you so mad?!”

“What were you and Gray doing?” He asked, avoiding eye contact with her.

“We were...umm...” Crap. What do I tell him?! If I keep quiet, he might get the wrong idea, but I don't want to ruin the surprise.

“If you don't want to tell me, then that's fine,” Natsu frowned, starting to walk away from her again.

“We were planning his date with Juvia,” Lucy lied, mentally kicking herself. Gray is going to kill me.

“What?” He looked surprised.

“Well, you see, Juvia is always trying to get him to go out with her, and I finally convinced him to take her to dinner tomorrow night.” Sorry Gray...

“Then, why did you--”

“I just got excited about their date,” she laughed, staring awkwardly at the ground.

“So that's why you two were out together the other morning!” He said, looking as though he were putting pieces of something together in his head.

“You—you saw us?” Lucy asked. Is that what was wrong with him then? Was he jealous that Gray and I were out together? She shook the thought from her mind. That can't be what was wrong with him.

“Just for a second,” he shrugged, but she could tell he was lying. “So, you two have been spending all that time together planning their date?”

“Y-yeah, that's it!” She said. “We had to pick when it would be, and decide where he wanted to take her. That kind of stuff.” She knew she was just digging a larger hole by lying more, but there wasn't really any going back. At this point, I've come to far to change my story. If he believes this one, and I can convince Gray to play along just until Natsu's party, then it isn't really a lie... for the most part.

~Natsu~

Natsu couldn't help the relieved sigh that escaped him at Lucy's words. So, there was nothing going on between the two of them after all. “I bet Juvia's pretty excited, huh?” He laughed, imagining the doting screaming at the news she had a date with Gray.

“Yeah...” She laughed, though he could tell it wasn't a real one. That made him curious. Is she still hiding something? Before he could think about it further, she clapped her hands together, smiling. “So! What kind of job are we going on? I hope it has a big reward!”

“Just some boring one,” he shrugged. “We have to take care of some pests for a restaurant, that's all.”

“Great,” she said, still smiling at him. He felt his chest tighten when he really looked at her, never noticing before how cute she looked when she smiled. Her eyes closed, and her entire face seemed to light up as the corners of her mouth pushed up her cheeks. “I'll meet you at the train station in twenty minutes, alright?” She told him, interrupting his thoughts.

“See you then,” he nodded, hoping she hadn't noticed him staring at her. As he walked back to the guildhall to get Happy, he let out another relieved sigh. Now that I know she's still single, maybe I should tell Lucy how I feel. I mean, now that I know there isn't anything going on with Gray, there shouldn't be anything holding me back. He immediately decided against the idea, afraid that she wouldn't return his feelings. If I tell her, and she doesn't feel the same, it will make things awkward. Our team is too important for me to risk it.

As he made it to the guildhall, another thought crossed his mind. One he pushed away, not wanting to think about it being true. What if she lied to me to cover up the fact that they were dating in secret? Juvia is a convenient cover, since she obviously likes him. Too bad she isn't here for me to ask. Part of him was secretly glad she had already left. If Lucy had lied to him, he didn't think he wanted to know.

~Lucy~

“WHAT?!” Gray exclaimed, furiously. He was practically steaming as he glared at her, fists clenched in anger. Lucy had just told him about the lie she had made up about him and Juvia going on a date.

“I'm sorry, Gray!” She pleaded, apologizing for about the tenth time in only five minutes. “Please, just do this one thing for me! All you have to do is take Juvia out for one dinner. You don't even have to eat anything. Juvia will be beside herself with joy even if you just walk into Magnolia with her and then go straight home.”

“I can't believe you threw me under the bus like that!” He growled. “What if I refuse?”

“Pleeeeaaaassssseee?” She begged, pouting her lip out at him.

After staring at her in silence for several minutes, finally he sighed, “I guess I don't really have a choice now, do I?”

“Thank you!!” She cried, hugging him again. “Besides,” she pulled away, smirking, “maybe things will go really well on your date tomorrow!”

“Tch,” he frowned, heading for the door. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

Lucy giggled to herself when he was gone. “He didn't take much convincing to go with Juvia. If he'd just give her the time of day, he'd realize that he totally likes her. Geeze.” She made a silent wager with herself, betting that the two of them would be together by Natsu's birthday party. Then maybe Juvia will stop claiming that I'm her love rival.

She quickly packed a small bag and ran to the train station, smiling at Natsu when she saw him. She always seemed to be smiling around him, even when he hadn't done anything. As they sat on the train, she thought about Natsu's party. Although she was nervous to tell him, she was also excited. Everything will finally be out in the open. Even if he doesn't return my feelings, at least he'll know that I love him.

She wondered what Erza would do to keep Natsu busy the next day, almost feeling sorry for him. I'm sure it's something incredibly dangerous. She looked over at Natsu—laying on the seat and groaning in pain—and couldn't help but giggle. I hope he returns my feelings!

Thanks for reading chapter 7!! Sorry it took me so long to update! Seriously... school has taken over my life... anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll post chapter 8 sometime this weekend! We're supposed to get a bunch of snow, so I'll probably be stuck at home all weekend--which means plenty of writing time!! :D