Falling for the Hot-Head [NaLu]

Chapter 8 ♡: The Truth

"What...what happened with you and Lisanna...?"

Lucy looked up at Natsu, her eyes wide and innocent.

Natsu stared at her for a few seconds, almost in disbelief. "Luce..." He pushed back his salmon hair with his hand. "...I don't want to talk about her..."

Lucy looked away. "I-I know. I've just been...hearing stuff...about you."

"What kind of stuff exactly...?" Natsu asked, both of them taking a seat on the couch.

Lucy bit her lip, looking away worriedly. "All I heard is that you guys dated for a while until you suddenly broke up with her. I heard after that, you know, you kind of...slept around... Honestly, that doesn't sound like you at all, I'm just confused..."

This is so awkward...

"Damn..." Natsu buried his face in one hand. "I really didn't want you to find out about any of that stuff like this...I should've just told you...Luce, I'm so sorry..."

Lucy sat next to him silently, waiting to hear the rest.

"So, yes, Lisanna and I...dated. Damn, I really hate talking about it...but basically she...she cheated on me for a long time. Honestly...I still struggle with it today." He clasped his hands together tightly until his knuckles turned white.

"Oh..." Lucy whispered, looking down.

Well that wasn't really what I was expecting...

"At the time...my dad had just...passed away, so I was already having a hard time..." Natsu's voice trailed off and a couple tear droplets fell into his lap. Lucy was shocked, she had never seen him so emotional before.

The blonde reached over and hugged the pink haired boy. "N-Natsu, it's okay, you don't need to tell me the rest...I'm so sorry, about your dad..."

"No, it's okay Lucy." Natsu hugged her back tightly and brushed his fingers through her long, blonde hair. "I care about you, you deserve to know this. I can tell this has been bothering you."

They pulled back from their embrace and Natsu continued on. "So, she knew how hard everything was for me at the time, and she talked me through some really dark places. In the end, maybe she felt like I wasn't giving her enough attention. It's really fucked up because she knew better than anyone that those were literally the worst months of my life."

Lucy placed a hand on his thigh in attempt to comfort him.

Natsu paused for a few moments and continued on. "So one day, I went over to her house. Nobody answered the door when I knocked, but the door was unlocked so I let myself in, not really thinking anything of it. I shouted for anyone when I walked in and got no response...so I went to her room. When I got there I saw her and some random guy...on her bed...you know...having sex. I was...shocked, I never expected her to do anything like that." He dug his nails into his palms. "This is also around the time my temper was getting...worse than it already was...and I punched a hole through her door and left before I murdered that guy. It took everything in me to just...leave."

Lucy covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my god...how could she do something...so horrible...at such a terrible time as if you weren't already hurting?"

"...Yeah." Natsu whispered. "After that, I ended things and told her never to talk to me again. I didn't tell anyone, not even Gray, what happened...I was too embarrassed I guess..."

The blonde put her hand on his. "You shouldn't feel bad, you don't have to tell people anything if you don't want too."

"If it counts, Mirajane is the only person besides you that knows. Mira had no idea it was going on, so I guess Lisanna would have people over when nobody else was around." He gritted his teeth. "I'm still...angry and embarrassed. Mostly at myself...for what I did next. And before you say anything, I-I felt so numb at the time. I wasn't thinking about the future, or anything really."

"Okay..." Lucy said, still holding onto his hand.

"I'm not proud of this...but yeah, those rumors you heard are true. I went around, with lots of girls... It was all for the sole purpose, I guess, of getting back at Lisanna. I wanted her to feel how I felt...I wanted her to hear those exact rumors that you heard..." He looked down at the floor. "Now, for a long time...I regret so much. I don't want that to be who I am anymore...I don't want people to think I'm 'that guy'."

"It's okay, I know that's not who you really are..." Lucy said quietly.

"I-I just really don't deserve you. I'm a terrible person...I messed with so many people's lives, for revenge. I d-don't want people to think that you're just hanging around me for sexual reasons, like Loke said." Natsu's voice trembled slightly.

Lucy instinctively crawled into his lap and threw her arms around him. "D-don't say that! People can think what they want, our friends know it's not like that."

"I just don't want you to get hurt because of me..." A few hot tears escaped his eyes as he buried his face in Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy hugged him tightly, stroking a few fingers through his messy, pink hair. "Natsu, really, whatever happens, I can handle it." She spoke softly. They sat in silence for a while.

Several moments had passed, and the blonde felt Natsu's body grow heavier. "H-hey Natsu...?" She looked down, only to notice he had fallen asleep, his cheeks still slightly wet with tears. A small smile crept across her face at the sight. He looked so peaceful now, especially compared to earlier. She moved away off the couch very carefully, trying not to wake him up. Lucy grabbed a blanket from her room to drape over him and turned off all the main lights in her apartment. She just left one lamp on in the living room since she still needed to complete some assignments for tomorrow.

She got all the papers out for her assignment and began writing. Her mind was all over the place. From school, to everything that happened with Natsu, and even Levy.

Today was a lot...but, I feel closer than ever to Natsu at least. I know I can trust him with anything...

Lucy could feel her eyes growing heavier as she let herself rest her head on the table. Soon her mind drifted off into a deep sleep...

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A/N:
New chapter! This chapter was difficult for me to write, which is why it took a while to come out. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it! Next chapter should be coming out shortly since it'll be a bit more lighthearted <3
Again thanks everyone for reading, the support means a lot.