Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
‑ˏˋ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ˊˎ‑
𝐈 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 hide the loud yawn by covering my mouth with my hand, but I'm pretty sure Jellal had seen through it. We were walking back to the apartment from getting groceries, and I wished with my entire being that I hadn't taken a couple of days off from work. Jellal had seen this as a bonding opportunity, considering that I was always holed up in my room every day.
And now, I wanted to be holed up in my room. He just kept talking on and on about random stuff ― stuff I don't even know if it was real or not. I just stared at him from the corner of my eye, noticing something about him. He's never stopped talking, and I'm not just talking about this particular moment.
Every time we would sit down to eat breakfast or whenever I would go to the bathroom, he would always be right there, chatting my ear off like it was the end of the world. I would always try to ignore it or focus on something else, but when there was nothing else to focus on, I was stuck listening to him. I'm surprised I'm still sane.
"Hey, Natsu?"
My ears perked up at the direct address, making me look at him. He was looking up at the sky, which was dotted with dark clouds. I followed his gaze, seeing as he had stopped walking. "What is it, Jellal?"
"Who was that redhead that came to check up on you?" he sounded genuinely curious.
I just shrugged, thinking it wasn't too big of a deal. "Erza Scarlet. She's been my friend since high school. Why do you ask?"
Jellal seemed to jump at the question, his face brightening in color. I tilted my head at his reaction, squinting my eyes at him. There was something I was missing, and I knew that it wasn't the light playing tricks on me when he quickly turned away. At that moment, my jaw went lax before a retarded smile ― it's a high possibility ― took over my face.
"Oh my god, you have a thing for her!" I could hardly contain my excitement and amusement, but for the sake of Jellal's face, I tried my hardest not to laugh. "Am I right or am I right?"
"Just because I asked about her doesn't mean a thing," he stalked off, his red face visible from where I stood. I snorkeled under my breath, following loosely behind him. I couldn't keep the smile off my face now as we walked, my cheeks actually hurting from it. That was a pain I had missed.
However, it quickly disappeared when someone else called my name, only this time I groaned. I didn't even have to turn around to know it was Gray. Everyone knew he was into stripping for some reason but was he getting into stalking now, too? I still turned on my foot, giving him a small smile.
Even though he got on my nerves, he was a good guy. We fought a lot when we were younger ― and we still do ― but we would always make up right after. Unless Erza broke us apart because then we would get yelled at on top of it. My smile deepened at those memories of how we were. It had made me realize just how fast we were growing up, and how little time we had left.
It was depressing the more I thought about it.
"Goddamnit, you're already zoning out and I just got here."
I blinked, seeing Gray wave his hand rapidly in front of my face. He stopped when he had gotten my attention, crossing his arms with a frown. "You really are messed up, aren't you?"
I crossed my own arms, not really wanting to deal with his bullshit right now. There was a reason why I had taken a few days off, and it was to be alone. Apparently, fate was angry at me or something. "What is it, Gray?" I hadn't meant to sound so harsh, but it came out that way.
"Erza wanted me to find you and tell you she made an appointment," Gray reached into his pocket, pulling out a white card. Holding it out to me, I took it from him. It was a business card for a ― I glared at him, letting the card fall onto the ground.
"I don't need to see a therapist." I wanted to leave it at that, but Gray wasn't giving up easily. I don't blame him; he would have to deal with an angry Erza. "I'm doing... okay." My shoulders sagged since it wasn't even close to the truth.
Gray put a hand on my shoulder. "Natsu, everyone is seeing it. You're not sleeping, you're hurting yourself, and now that you have the job you wanted, you're already taking a break. It's not just Erza worried about you, man." He moved his hand from my shoulder to the top of my head, making me look up at him. He smiled. "Levy, Wendy, Gajeel, Lucy ― every one of us is worried about you."
I could feel my lip tremble. "I know, but if you try to help me and I don't get better, I would let you down and ― "
Gray quieted me by wrapping an arm around my shoulders. The tears were close to falling, and it didn't help that this is what Gray did. He was someone you could count on to be yourself around, no matter how whacky or crazy you were because he was the same way. He would always let me cry on his shoulder during school, and now that we were older and it hadn't changed ― it was too much for me.
"How about we try to help you instead of sending you off to a therapist? I don't know what we would do, but somehow ― someway ― you will get better. For me, the first step was to accept that Lis was gone. Maybe you're just trying to hold onto her longer than you need to." I could feel my eyes widen, but he didn't give me a chance to think. "As long as you remember her, Natsu, she's never truly gone."
When I tried to back away, Gray let go of me and let me wipe the few tears that had gathered in my eyes. I had avoided crying this time, but it was only a matter of time. Suddenly remembering Jellal, I whirled around, almost glad to see him leaning against a street lamp.
"Let us help you, Natsu. Just remember that you can never let us down," his grin had me so close to agreeing, but there was that sliver of me that wanted to get over this by myself. I didn't want to drag my friends into my big mess. That was the whole point of me refusing to go to a therapist or letting them help.
I waved a hand. "I need to get over this by myself, Gray." His face fell after I spoke, but I had made up my mind. "I don't want to drag any of you into this. This is my problem, so I'm going to get it straightened out."
