The Engagement Game

Seven Days

It had been a week, a whole seven days since Lucy had spoken to a single one of her celestial spirits, or anyone else for that matter. She'd been emotionally drained and torn, she hadn't even been to the guildhall. No jobs, no friends, no interaction with any other beings since that night. She didn't want to talk about it with Mira, or any of the others, however, it was a conversation needed to be had with Loke. Despite that it was almost midnight now, she finally decided it was time to talk about this and get it over with.

She picked up Leo's key and weakly held it up in front of herself. "Open, gate of the lion, Leo." She uttered in a hoarse voice, indicating that not only had she lacked sleep, but had also been crying.

A quiet chime sounded as a golden light shone in the girl's tired eyes.

"Hey, gorgeous..." the zodiac leader stood in front of his owner, but looked to the floor, instead of those beautiful, brown eyes he'd missed so much. Did she really just call me by Leo? He refused to make eye contact with her, even as he spoke. "It's late."

"I know," she sighed, realizing he wasn't going to look at her. "So, are we gonna talk about this?"

"Only if you want to. We could just pretend nothing ever happened and leave it at that..." his voice also sounded infirm and fragile.

Lucy was surprised he'd given up so easily. "Really? You're not going to try to fix this?"

Loke perked up, surprised, "I still have a chance?" His eyes finally met Lucy's, creating an antsy, but hopeful stare.

"I didn't say that," she protested. "I'm just surprised. I thought you'd be begging me for another chance long before now, but you haven't even spoken to me."

"I didn't think you'd want me to."

Lucy went quiet. She was deep in thought, carefully thinking about each detail of the situation. Because he didn't think I'd want him to? Since when does he care?! I mean... unless he really does love me and wouldn't do anything to— no! He left me to spend his day at a party with a bunch of other girls, while I spent it talking and thinking about everything we could've had together! She then covered her mouth as if it would stop her thoughts from trailing further.

Loke continued to stare, now confused at her action. Maybe he didn't love her, but she was starting to love the idea of them together. This was going to go to hell.

He suddenly huffed and gave a slight, pained chuckle, sitting beside Lucy on her bed. "I guess I never really had a chance to begin with. Why didn't you just tell me you loved someone else?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Just how many people thought she and Natsu were a thing? "Are you kidding me? Don't tell me you think I like Natsu too."

The spirit just blinked, cocking an eyebrow. "Don't you?"

"Damn it, Loke..." the blonde nodded her head in disappointment. "I don't love anyone else, especially not Natsu."

I guess I just happened to catch her at the wrong time, like she did me. Being reassured of Lucy's lack of interest in Natsu, he put on his wonted smirked. "So, you love me?"

Lucy's face turned crimson. How was she supposed to answer that? She wasn't even sure if he loved her! "Uhh..."

What's with this hesitation? Never mind, she must just not understand where I'm coming from... "You said anyone else. Does that mean you love me?" Though he was mostly teasing her, he had honest curiosity in his tone.

Did she? At that moment, that question was quite overwhelming. Lucy didn't know how she felt. Could she possibly have been falling for Loke? It did hurt to see him with that other girl; she even cried for a few days, not to mention earlier before summoning him. She felt anger, confusion and sadness all at once.

"Ugh... I don't know!" She shouted, then went quiet.

Loke wasn't expecting that kind of reaction from her. He felt guilty for putting her in that situation, however she may have been feeling, it was clear that it was fraughting her. He pulled Lucy into his arms and held her close. She had no objection— even if she did, she was too weak to push him away. She just sat there, lying against his chest, letting her head tuck under his chin.

"Lucy..." he started, adding a calm, seriousness his usually sultry tone. "Remember that morning, when I told you I would be busy? Before I gave you the ring?"

Lucy had still been wearing the piece of jewelry. She looked at it, nodding in response, to let him know she was listening. She could feel his heart pounding and wondered if he was possibly blushing— that was something she hardly ever saw.

"Well, it was because I had to tell all the other girls that I was in love," he gulped nervously. "I told them I wasn't going to see them anymore, so I wouldn't be cheating on you."

"W-what?" Lucy was stunned. She blinked, staring up at him, bemused. "Then... why would you-"

"I didn't kiss that girl." He said quickly, while frowning. "I guess we both just chose the wrong time to notice each other. I heard you scream, so I came after you. As soon as I saw you and Natsu there together... I was so distracted by my... jealousy. I didn't pay attention to that girl and all of the sudden, she threw herself at me."

Jealousy...? Lucy listened to him explain his side of the story. It made perfect sense, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that she shouldn't trust him. However, she was now willing to put that incident aside.

Loke's grip tightened around her, afraid she wouldn't believe him. "Please forgive my carelessness. If I would've just paid attention to her instead of being jealous, I could've stopped her. But I promise, I hardly even know her! She was just a-"

"Loke," she interrupted him, laughing softly at his nervousness. "I believe you, it's okay." She would never say it, but the way he kept rambling was adorable. He must really be scared to lose her trust.

"Y-you do?" His newly baffled expression slowly turned into a smile. "So...?"

"Yeah, yeah," Lucy grinned back at him, rolling her eyes. "The deal's back on."

Loke's smile grew. "Thank you, Lucy." He nuzzled against the girl's cheek tenaciously, giving her one last tight hug before freeing her from his arms. "Please get some sleep now, okay, lovely?"

She nodded. "I will, don't worry. You should probably rest too, you sound tired." She curled up in her bed and covered up, ready to get some real sleep. For the first time in seven days, she could relax. "Goodnight, Loke."

Seeing Lucy smile made him happy again. He swept a strand of hair out of her face and let out a sigh of relief. Thank God she wasn't upset with him anymore. "Goodnight, precious."

Lucy blushed at that nickname. That was different... As much as she hated to admit it, she was happy. Happy to see Loke again, happy she believed him, happy to give him another chance... she wanted to be with him, but she couldn't bring herself to believe he only wanted to be with her.

He'd been a playboy since before they met and even tried to lay a move on her multiple times before he became her spirit. He probably did the same thing even in the celestial world. Hes the leader of the zodiac; he must have more than a few admirers there as well. He might've even been lying about telling all of those other girls that he was done with them. The only reason she believed it was because she wanted to. She wanted to believe she was special enough to him that he could leave all the other girls behind. But was that really true, or just wishful thinking?