The demon released

Chapter 18: Avoiding

Lucy's POV

The rest of the day, I spent all my time trying to avoid Natsu without worrying everyone. Luckily, Team Natsu had no missions planned, so I didn't have to be with him. Near the end of the day, while I was talking to Levy about all the books she read while I was away, Natsu trotted over. I could see, and hear, Mira cackling evilly behind the bar, a scary glint in her eye. As Elfman tried to calm his insane sister, I tried to ignore her completely, Levy peering over to see what was happening. "Hey Luce, do you wanna spend tonight at my place?" Natsu asked, making the whole guild freeze. Somehow, they all heard. Mira laughed louder, freaking everyone out more than they already were. "Wh-Why?" I stuttered, looking just to the left of his face. "I need to talk to you about last night." He stated seriously, an expression on his face I've never seen before. At the mention of what we did, a huge blush came on my face, signing Erza to appear. "What did you do with Lucy?" She asked, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible, doing an awkward pose as she leaned on the table. "We had s-." I cut him off by covering his mouth. I never knew he knew the name or would he so blunt about it. "We had a battle. Right Natsu?" I tightened my grip on his wrists, making him shake his head roughly in fear of losing it. "That must have been the best wrestling match of your life." Mira shouted across the guild, making us laugh uncomfortably as I removed my hand. "Who won?" Gray smirked, guessing I would've won our supposed fight. "Yeah, who dominated who?!" Mira ran over, her craziness getting the better of her. "I did." Natsu smirked, putting one foot in the bench and one hand slamming on his chest. "Really?!" Erza gasped, surprised I could lose. "Liar! I was totally on top!" I poked his chest. "Are you sure about that! I remember finishing on top." He smirked down at me. "And who finished first?" I put my hands on my hips, peering into his eyes. "You did." He insisted. "Na uh. You were begging for mercy!" I smirked as he remembered the last events of our fight. I'm so glad everybody thinks we're talking about a battle. I chuckled to myself. "I bet you are. You like teasing Natsu." Shadow spoke up. "This is all your fault. So don't comment." I replied. "Oh, do you want me to apologise personally?" Shadow asked. "Shadow, I swerve to Mavis if you do." I began my rant as things soon returned to normal.

It wasn't for a couple seconds before I noticed Natsu pulling me out the guild, probably leading us to his house. As we walked in silence, I started to ask. "Natsu, what are we?" I asked nervously, not sure if I wanted to know the answer. "Girlfriend and boyfriend, of course. At least that's what Mira said when I asked." He stated like it was nothing. I instantly blushed, covering my mouth. Noticing I had stopped, Natsu turned around, still holding my hand. "Luce? What's wrong?" He stepped up to me, seeing the tears building in my eyes. I hugged him without a word, shocking him as his arms hanged.

Finally, I had the will to cry. The strength to lean on someone for support. I finally had Natsu by my side.

After a while, I hugged me back, his chest was now wet with my tears as I cried softly. "Thank you Natsu. Thank you so much." I muttered as he kissed my head, petting my hair soothing me. "I love you Luce. I thought you knew that." He chuckled, making me look up, tears of joy still running down. "I love you too Natsu. Haha, you must be my guardian angel or something." I smiled, each other still in the other's arms. "How come?" He cocked his head to the side cutely. "You saved me from my father. You tried to save me after I almost killed you all. You searched for me even when everyone else had lost hope. You're the reason I'm still alive, Natsu. If you hadn't come when you did, I-I think I would've..." I trailed off, ashamed I had thought of such things as I lowered my head.

Suddenly, Natsu pulled my cheeks to face him. "I'm never letting you go ever again Luce. I'll never let you cry again. And I'm certainly not letting you feel like that ever, ever again. You can cry on me. You can beat me. You can scream and threaten me. But I'll never leave your side." He whispered in a deeper voice than usual, making me blush even more than I would have at his comments. "We'll just have to look out for Erza." I laughed, trying to hid my embarrassment as I noticed we tad stopped in front if his house. "Are you still staying at the guild?" He asked seriously, ignoring my Erza comment. "Yeah, but I do have a place to stay." I said, his arms still laced around my waist. "Where?" He added, going back to his cute, clueless self. "Come on, I'll show you." I grabbed the hand on my back and turned around, leading him deep into the forest.