Red Ribbon (Nalu AU)

Chapter 26

My mouth opened slightly and my eyes widened.

"You!" I said accusingly. "I thought I told you to leave me alone."

"But that was so long ago, my dear. Come on. Let's go back home!" Jude said smiling. But his smile was fake. Everything about him was fake.

"How many times do I have to tell you? That place hasn't been my home ever since Mother died!" I yelled. I didn't care if other people heard me. I want everyone to see just how rotten my father really is.

"Now calm down Lucy. There's no need to-"

"NO! I am not going to calm down! I told you that you were no longer my father and yet you're still trying to control me!" I said angrily. Anger was the only emotion I felt. I couldn't help it.

Jude ran up to me and grabbed my wrist. His hold on my wrist was tight and it was starting to hurt. A lot.

"Now you listen to me young lady! I am your father no matter what you say! And that means I can do whatever I want with you! I control your future. You don't have a choice. So you are going back to the manor with me and that's final!" Jude said, his face morphing into that of a monster.

"NO!" I screamed. I could feel tears starting to form. Jude started dragging away even though I was screaming at him to let me go. My eyes were closed and I was crying. I was still screaming.

I'm sorry Natsu...

But then suddenly a hand gripped my fathers arm.

"You heard the lady. And I suggest you let her go if you don't want to get hurt." His voice said. He sounded different than his normal self. He sounded like the first time I met him. Cold and emotionless. Which was terrifying.

Jude looked at Natsu in shock. His mouth kept opening and closing and I couldn't help but think he was a fish.

"You can't do that! I am her father!"

"Really? Because it didn't sound that way to me." Natsu growled. Natsu and Jude glared at each other for a long time when Jude finally let go of my wrist. I could see marks and I wondered if bruises would form.

"Fine. You win." Jude said, backing away. Natsu was still hardcore glaring at him and I tried hard not to shudder. Jude walked away quickly and Natsu turned to me. It was hard trying not to flinch under him still glaring but I somehow managed to maintain eye contact. Then something unexpected happened. Natsu hugged me.

He hugged me so hard that I thought he was actually going to somehow kill me.

"Natsu you can stop hugging me now." I said.

"But what if I don't want to." Was all Natsu responded with.

We stayed like that for what felt like hours. Hugging under the stars.

"Thank you Natsu. I don't know what I would've down if you didn't intervene." I told him.

"No problem. I just wonder how he got here. This party is invitation only. But I specially told my parents not to invite him." Natsu said.

"At least you tried." Was all I said.

We stood in silence for a little bit until I said,"Is it ok if I leave? I know I said I would stay but after that..."

Natsu didn't say anything for a bit. He just looked up at the star-filled sky. But then he answered,"You can leave. I mean, you didn't have to get permission, by the way. But if your leaving, I'm leaving."

"You can't do that! Won't your parents get mad at you?" I asked.

"Nah. Besides, if they ask, I actually have a valid reason." Natsu said smirking.

I laughed.

"Ok but what would we do? I don't really feel like sitting at home either." I said. It's true. I wanted to leave but I didn't want to go back to my apartment.

"Hmmm."

Natsu and I started thinking of different things we could do. I was thinking about just watching a movie when Natsu asked me something.

"Huh? What did you say?" I asked.

"I asked, do you like circuses?"

•Time Skip•

"So tell me exactly how you know that there is a circus in town?" I asked.

"Well, I think Juvia told Gray about it and they went together. And then Gray told me." Natsu said.

"Juvia and Gray know each other?" I asked.

"Yup. Juvia's had a crush on Gray ever since they met." Natsu said like it was the obvious thing in the world.

Natsu parked close to the circus tent which was blue and white. There were multiple trucks with the words Cirque Italia, which I'm guessing is the name of the circus.

"Natsu, do you know what they do?" I asked. Even though it was a stupid question, I still wanted to ask.

"Umm, I think it's like a regular circus, but without clowns. And they have water intertwined with some of the performances." Natsu said, his eyebrows creasing together.

"Well it sounds cool." I said and Natsu agreed. While we were waiting, we also got some popcorn and slushees. Natsu and I were getting some weird looks because we were still wearing our matching outfits, but I was to busy laughing at Natsu to really notice.

At some point we were ushered to our seats and Natsu and I got to be in the third row of the third section. There was a reminder flashing on a screen in front of everyone that said to stay off your phone.

Natsu and I were playing Thumb War while we were waiting and we played Rock-Paper-Scissors. At one point the lights dimmed and the music got louder. That's when we new the show was starting.

(A/n: ok, so I went to a Cirque Italia show and it was amazing. At least I thought so. Anyway, I would explain everything but I suck at explaining and describing things so I'll just show videos so you can get a general idea)

(A/n: you don't have to watch the whole video because the video is like an hour and a half long but just skip through and you'll get a general idea)

The circus was over and Natsu and I still couldn't comprehend what we just saw.

"Could you imagine practicing for the first time? It would so frustrating and hard!" I said.

"No kidding." Natsu said, agreeing with me.

And with what felt like an almost perfect night was going to be nothing like what was waiting for me.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
GUESS WHOS WRIST HURTS FROM PLAYING VOLLEYBALL? If you guessed me, your right.

Ok so this is definitely one of my least favorite chapters. I wanted to describe the whole circus thing but I'm tired and if I'm tired in the morning, then I'm going to suck during volleyball practice...

-FairySlayer7
Stay Fabulous!