Lessons in Love » NaLu A.U.

chapter » seventeen

"I can handle myself."

"No, you can't."

No, I can't, Lucy thought, but she was stubborn enough to never verbally agree with Natsu's argument. Instead, she let his hand wrap around hers, her frail body trailing behind his protective one as they walked to, well, somewhere. Lucy wasn't entirely sure until they arrived back at their apartment building.

Elevator doors opened, stepped inside: silence on the way up, terrible music flowing out the speakers at a barely audible volume. Lucy's hand tugged away from Natsu's grip.

"He's my friend." Lucy said blatantly, her voice dripping with as much spite as she could. She was a grown woman who could make her own decisions and chose her own friends. She did not need Natsu to dictate for her.

"Yeah, he used to be mine and Gray's, too." Natsu said. His tone was edged with a sarcasm that undermined Lucy's own attitude. "Then he started hurting people."

The blonde huffed. She didn't bring herself to look at Natsu. Instead, she glared ahead of her at the brassy doors as they went up another level. "He won't hurt me."

Natsu scoffed. "He once said he'd never hurt Gray."

This boy's adamant feelings weren't going anywhere, yet neither was Lucy. They were both too stubborn for their own good. Lucy's thin arms tucked into each other as she crossed them over her chest. "Gray is strong. He can hold his own if he and Loke want to be immature."

The elevator doors opened onto their level, though Natsu nearly burst into a fit. His palm hit the wall beside Lucy's head for added effect even though he would never hurt her. Would he?

"Immature? You think they were being immature?" Natsu's voice was gruff and loud as his lips pulled into a tight sneer, the lips she dreamed of kissing so often. "Sure, they were kids. But stop talking about it like you were there. You don't know anything."

Natsu turned his back to her. She wanted to scream at him even if she had no words, to just do anything. She had spent too much of her life being bullied into keeping quiet. She wanted to change, but today was not that day.

Taking a few quick steps out before the elevator doors closed again, Lucy followed the pink haired boy down the hall. "That's easy for you to say. Maybe if someone actually told me something then I'd be able to have a rational and mature conversation about this."

Natsu was far from mature; he made it clear in the way he silently mimicked her words, miming her like a child does their sibling as he fiddled angrily with his keys. His hands were unsteady, his head flustered. It took a moment to finally get the keys in the door.

"I don't care, Luce." Natsu snapped once the door was open and he slipped inside. Despite his obvious state of distress, he held the door for her. "Loke is still not someone I trust to be around you and not doing anything stupid."

The door closed with a careless thud as Lucy shimmied off her jacket. "Stupid? Do you realize that's all you and your friends are, is stupid?"

Natsu's mouth fell open to protest, but Lucy kept arguing. "Gray is a maybe-maybe not stripper who gets into fights wearing minimal clothing. Erza is absolutely controlling around you guys and keeps more secrets than anyone I know! And you, you--"