words i didn't say / nalu

five

-- lucy heartfilia --

it's been nearly three weeks since my first day here. i've grown closer to everyone, and made so many new friends.

i'm finally living freely, like i've always wanted. i don't need to worry about anything.

i'm currently sitting in class, head pressed against my forearm as i fill out the worksheets given to us. i can see natsu in my peripheral vision, and he looks distracted.

there seems to always be something on his mind, but he never talks about it. i do wonder what he's thinking, but knowing him it's probably something stupid.

the bell rings and i let out a sigh of relief. after packing up my stuff and handing in my worksheets, i realise the salmon-haired boy hasn't moved an inch.

"wakey wakey." i wave my hand in front of his face. "the bell rang."

"oh." he looks away.

"so what are you gonna be doing now that class is over?" i ask as he quickly fills out the rest of his last sheet and puts his stuff into his bag.

"nothing, probably. just sitting in my dorm. you?"

"i'm gonna check out the library. levy's told me all about it."

"oh yeah. you did mention you were a bit of a bookworm."

"i grew up reading novels and stuff all the time. my mom wanted to write her own books herself, so she'd read them to me as bedtime stories. i guess my love for books started with her."

"that's nice." natsu smiled. "were they any good?"

"obviously. my mom had a special way with words that i just can't really describe. every story was more magical and wonderful than the last, and sometimes i just felt so into the story i forgot what real life was."

i could tell my face was lighting up just talking about my mother. she was always the angel in my life, there to light up the dark moments.

"it was always her dream to release her novels. someday i want the world to see her work too."

natsu was grinning widely. we walked out of class together in a comfortable silence, out of the building before i remembered something levy told me.

"crap." i muttered. "natsu, can i stay at your dorm for a bit? the library's closed until four today."

"yeah, sure."

i'm just glad the teachers don't give a shit about girls being in boy's dorms and vice versa, as long as nobody ruins the fun and gets pregnant.

we make our way to the dorm block, natsu pressing his id against the scanner to open the door, and then up the stairs to the third floor. normally, when i'm not in a hurry, i'd just use the elevator because i'm lazy, but natsu told me ages ago that he gets horrible motion sickness. erza even confirmed this and proceeded to tell me a story about how he passed out on a kid's rollercoaster when they went to a theme park back in their early teenage years because of it.

when i enter natsu's dorm, i see gray and jellal in the lounge playing some sort of video game. they didn't even look away from the screen when they heard the door open.

"hey." natsu rolled his eyes when the only response he got was gray holding his left hand up to say hello, and jellal just humming.

boys, i guess.

i followed him into his room. it was sort of the same layout as mine, with the same furniture and stuff. i noticed how messy it was - clothes were practically falling out of his wardrobe and his desk was littered with paper and loose stationery.