Lessons in Love » NaLu A.U.

chapter » sixteen

You should come meet my family. The idea of it rattled inside Lucy's brain for a very disastrous length of time. From the moment she disappeared under the steamy water of her shower to the moment she sat in the lecture hall of her astronomy class, Lucy heard her own mind whispering it to her.

Somewhere between the flashes of galaxy break-downs on the projector the professor was showing them and the pen-drawn stars boarding the edges of her notebook, Lucy was thinking about the little stars in her own mind.

Mauna Kea. The stars there were beautiful; would Natsu go there with her? She was not the type to take home to your parents. Lucy was the kind you took to lunch during the week when you were free on time and didn't have much else to do. Spot the difference.

Her pen made silent strokes along the border or her college-ruled notebook. She had a laptop for most classes, but astronomy she never needed it. To her, it was just pretty pictures of things she had already learned. It was the one class Lucy was already top at, mostly because she had already taught herself most of the theories.

A small scuffling noise sounded out beside her. Barely moving her head to the side to see who it was, Lucy watched as Loke sat himself down in the rolling chair beside her. He had just gotten up and switched seats mid-lecture. How daring, Lucy scoffed to herself.

"Morning." She said quietly. Her elbow on the table, Lucy propped her head up lazily against her fist. Her pen kept scratching at paper.

The orange-haired man beside her huffed in response and laid over the table and rested his head on his folded forearms. "You should really pay attention more."

"Says the one talking during class." Lucy whispered back. Her eyes kept a downward cast on her half-doodled page.

She hadn't spoken to Loke since their run in with Natsu, mostly because she knew she would take sides if things came down to it. Besides, he told her to stay away from Loke at least a little bit. It wouldn't go well if he knew they were still friends.

Then again, who was Natsu to dictate her friendships? "How have you been?" Lucy asked. How long had it been since that day--hardly a few weeks?

Loke shrugged as if that were a good answer. "I survived." He mused humorlessly. "You?"

Lucy snorted quietly. "Ditto."

The orange haired male beside her pouted with dramatic sympathy. "Things really that bad with your pretty pink boyfriend?" He snickered.

Her brows furrowed as she finally turned her head to look at him. "Why would you say that?"

"What, like it wasn't obvious? The way he was so~ protective of you that day we shared a cab." Loke laughed with genuine amusement rather than jealousy, which made Lucy somewhat relieved. "Natsu's protective in general and all, but he goes a little too far when people he cares about are involved."

Lucy's already plump lips pursed slightly. "Speaking from more than one experience I take it?" She raised an eyebrow and they silently shared a look that said, Gray.

At just the mention of it between them, Loke's face erupted into a childlike smile. "Yeah, you could so say. Natsu tried to fight me once."

"And?"

Loke snorted with stifled laughter. "We got stuck under the bleachers during high school because we were fighting during gym class and didn't get back inside before the doors locked again. We had to wait for security to let us in."

Lucy's cheeks flushed pink at the idea of Natsu doing something so reckless. She could only imagine the way he would get so flustered over it if it was ever brought up again...