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‑ˏˋ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 ˊˎ‑
𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 to working at the café and I had to say, just spending an afternoon with Wendy and Romeo had made me feel better. I know it was too early to say anything about being sane, but I didn't have a nightmare last night. To be frank, it made me uneasy, having gotten used to having that same dream every night.
Jellal was no longer angry with me, and I felt like that little blow-up brought us closer. I was definitely starting to open up to Jellal more than day one. And I had learned to always close my eyes when walking into the living room when he was working out. To me, that was a game changer.
Even though it was too soon to tell whether or not I was mentally healed, I couldn't help but think that I was heading in the right direction. It was about damn time too.
I had just walked past the storage room when I heard someone call out my name. Stopping in my tracks, I hurried back towards the room I just passed, seeing Lucy standing there with her arms crossed as she stared at me. The immediate thought that went through my head was Crap, I'm in trouble.
"You called, Lucy?" I took tentative steps towards her, just in case she tried to punch me in the face or something. She simply pointed to a box on the top shelf, her bottom lip out in a pout. I relaxed, deciding to tease her a little bit. "Should I start calling you shorty?"
Now she was mad at me, making me back up a step. "You want to run that by me again?" she threatened.
I laughed nervously, holding my hands up in surrender. "Sorry. Let me get that for you."
The storage room was already small enough as it is, but with two people in it, it was even smaller. I had managed to slide past the angry blonde, reaching up to grab the box with ease. Balancing it on my fingers, I presented it to Lucy in the goofiest way possible. "I believe this is what you were after, madam."
This caused Lucy to giggle as she took the box from me. She made no move to leave, though, and seeing as she was blocking the way to the door, neither could I. We just stood there, cramped in the storage room, staring at each other. Lucy had stopped laughing, but when I had stared at her longer than I should have, she trained her gaze on the box.
There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but I had never gotten the chance to tell her. All the apologies, the catching up ― everything and more, but these were things that needed to be done in private. I had owed her that much, for all she had done for me.
"Um," she began. "We need to get back ― "
She had started to turn away, but I grabbed her arm before she could leave. Lucy whipped her head around, confusion sparking to life in her big brown eyes. For a second, my breath caught in my throat and I choked on my words. She continued to stare at me for a few more moments, but when I continued to stand there, she sighed.
"Natsu, we have to get back to work," she said, "or we'll get fired."
I just nodded, reluctantly letting go for her to turn around and leave. I stayed in the storage room for a few more minutes before sighing heavily. After shutting the door behind me, I went out in the café, taking up my position behind the counter. Not even two minutes later and someone came barging in, making me jump a foot in the air.
When I saw Mirajane Strauss, my first instinct was to hide, but her eyes zoomed in on me. I thought I heard her growling, and it didn't help my fear. I was a goner.
"Natsu, I need to talk with you," she growled out. Let's just say, the customers around her had migrated to the other side of the room. She snapped, pointing outside. "Now."
I had turned to Makarov, hoping he would tell her I was in the middle of working, but the bastard actually pushed me outside! I had heard him mumbling something about losing customers, and before I knew it, the door was slammed shut. I gulped, forced to look at the agitated florist. She tapped her foot against the ground, which scared me to no end.
"What is this 'thinking about killing yourself' bullshit I've been hearing about, hmm?"
I nearly face palmed in both embarrassment and stupidity. Erza and Mirajane were close ― childhood close ― so it was only natural that she would learn about what was becoming of me. Even though I didn't quite want her to find out about it, I couldn't have stopped the inevitable.
She grabbed onto my ear without another word, starting to drag me away from the café. I just went along with her, remembering that people sometimes called her a she-devil. "Wh-Where are we going?"
Mirajane glared down at me. "You are going to get some damn help. I'm not like Erza and the others. I don't care if you run away with your tail between your legs, but for the love of my sanity, you will not let Lisanna's death be in vain." I could tell it hurt her to say Lisanna's name too ― her threatening glare had softened for a mere second. "I'll pay for the damn sessions, I don't care. Quit being a wimp and man up already."
Was it just me, or did she sound oddly like Jellal right about now? It didn't make it any less true, though. I was an absolute train wreck, and I deserved this ― being dragged to who knows where by the she-devil herself. I felt her grip on my ear loosen, only to have her palm on my back, shoving me through a door.
I landed on my hands and knees, flinching when a door slammed shut. I almost gagged on the smell of the air, never quite being a fan of lavender. With my hand covering my mouth and nose, I took a look at my surroundings.
It was close to looking like an office, other than the couch and chair sitting right smack-dab in the middle of the room. How in the wide world did we get here?
"Alright, Gildarts," the chilling voice of Mirajane had shivers run down my spine. "Time to work your magic."
"Geez, kid. You gonna stay down there forever, or are you gonna get off your ass and sit like a civil person?" the voice was deep, causing me to stand up on my feet. My eyes landed on a rugged man, his orange hair sticking to his darker skin.
If this was a therapist, he looked like he belonged on the streets, fighting for money. Those scars would help prove that theory, too. As much as I wanted to back away, Mirajane pushed me forward. I was close to falling on the man but swiftly regained my footing. I didn't dare glare at Mirajane head-on, so I would roll my eyes in my apartment later. Let's just say, she was a lot different from when I had first seen her after getting out of jail.
"So you're Natsu Dragneel, hmm?" Gildarts hummed, scratching his cheek. I gulped, nodding once. Behind me, the springs of a couch squeaked, and I tried focusing on that. Gildarts stood up then, coming over to me to loom over me. I felt like I was inferior to him, and it chilled me to the bone.
Instead of squashing me like a bug ― which I'm pretty sure he could do ― he cackled out a laugh, Mirajane joining him. I looked between the two, feeling like there was an inside joke I didn't know about. I turned my attention back to Gildarts when he pulled at my hair, making me wince.
"Well, Natsu Dragneel," he laughed, "I'm Gildarts Clive. So, why don't we get this session started?"
