Spoken {Sequel to Unspoken} ON HOLD

chapter two

Natsu

My so-called friend, Gray sighed. "It's pathetic!"

"No, it's romantic," Juvia argued. 

At least one of them was on my side.

"Romantic? It's been four years, and he still mopes around like a teenage girl that's just found out Justin-what's-his-face is off the market," Gray countered and pointed his finger at me as if it wasn't clear who he was talking about. "Back me up, Natsu. It's pathetic, right?"

"Thank you," I muttered. I wasn't completely pathetic. There had been a few dates since Lucy left but they never turned into anything. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't force myself to want a relationship with any other women, which fucked me over royally because she left. She rejected me and then left.

Gray held his hand up as Juvia opened her mouth to argue her side again. "I'm just sayin', maybe it's time to give Jenny a chance. She's a great girl, and she lives in England."

I sighed and rubbed my jaw. Jenny was a great girl. She was pretty, had a good sense of humour, and was intelligent, but she wasn't Lucy. I met Jenny on the first day of university, and we had been friends ever since. She had hinted a few times that she wanted more, but I didn't want to lead her on just on the off chance that I could grow to like her romantically.

Juvia slapped Gray across the chest with the back of her hand. The sound made a solid thud. "Don't tell him that, Gray! Lucy is clearly his soul mate."

"Who ditched him to move half way across the world."

That fucking hurt.

"Because she thought she was doing the best thing for him. He should have gone after her. They could be sunning themselves on a gorgeous beach in paradise right now."

I tried to go with her. She didn't want me.

"But he didn't, and it's been four years. She's probably with some other guy now, sunning themselves on the beach!"

I closed my eyes and pushed away the thought of another man touching her. Would she even allow that? She let me, but we had been friends forever. She knew I would never hurt her. Lucy's trust meant everything to me, and the fact that she felt comfortable and safe enough to get that close made me feel a thousand feet tall.

Half of me hoped she would never let another man near her, and the other half hoped she would. I wanted her to be happy, and for those bastards not to have completely ruined any chance she had of being happy.

Four years on, and I still thought of her as mine.

"Either change the subject or I'm leaving," I hissed. The whole conversation was making me feel sick. Juvia was right about one thing; I should have followed her. Staying here was the biggest regret I had, but it seemed like she didn't want me to go with her. I was scared to go flying out there and surprise her in case she told me to go back.

For the first few weeks, we sent text messages. Well, it was mostly me plaguing her with texts. She kept apologizing for everything and saying that I should forget her. Forgetting her wasn't going to happen: she was a huge part of my life and had been since we were both kids.

I understood completely that she couldn't be here any more. After what those fuckers did to her of course she wouldn't want constant reminders, but she was wrong about my life being here. I didn't get enough time to convince her; she just left. It was too late now, of course.

"What are we talking about?" Jenny asked, taking a seat next to me and grabbing the menu. I hadn't even see her come in.

"How romantic Natsu is," Juvia said, at the same time Gray came out with, 'How pathetic Natsu is.' Juvia and Gray were made for each other. Obviously 'Change the subject' meant something completely different to them than it did to me.

"Right." Jenny laughed and shot me a brief smile. "So, are we going out tonight?"

"Oh definitely," Juvia said and launched into a conversation about where we were going. Thankfully that ended the topic of my pathetic-ness over Lucy.

By the time I joined their conversation, everything was planned. We were all meeting at my place at eight and getting a taxi into town.

"See you all later," I said as we parted in the car park.

"Bye, loser," Gray shouted. 

Great.

My parents, Erza and my niece, Scarlet – or Fifi as we often called her due to her obsession with Fifi and the Flowertots – were sitting on the sofa watching Cinderella.