One Of The Boys

Old Days

He gave her a soft smile. "It's okay. You don't have to explain yourself."

She sighed, eyes dropping to her free hand. "It's just...it's weird coming back here, after leaving so...suddenly."

Natsu wanted to ask her why she'd left him so abruptly, why she'd sped off to go to some prep school she'd never wanted to go to before, but he held his tongue. He didn't want to be rude. He didn't want to pry. Especially now, because the tension in the air made it crystal clear that they weren't picking up where they'd left off—she felt like a stranger, now.

But still, seeing her there and holding the can in his hand sent a ripple of memories down his spine, and he couldn't stop the words before they were out.

"I really missed you, Luce."

And she was quiet for a second, her brown eyes flickering up to meet his. Her expression softened, and her stiff shoulders relaxed a bit at the sound of her nickname. And her chest was beating quickly and heavily. "I missed you too, Natsu," She responded, and it wasn't a lie.

She'd had fun at prep school. She'd changed drastically, adjusted to a life filled with flowers and lace and classes about fashion and makeup. But during her time there, especially at the start of her stay, the memories of Natsu and the baseball diamond and the pond out back hit her hard. As her time at the school had worn on, these little flashes of memories lessened and lessened until she rarely thought about home.

But being here, being back in this spot, looking at him...it brought them all back. It felt like there were two versions of her battling it out inside of her heart, trying to get top spot: old Lucy and new Lucy. And right now, seeing that familiar face and hearing that familiar voice—although it was quite a bit deeper now—was giving old Lucy the advantage.

She shook it off, trying to focus on the person before her.

His cheeks were a little pink, now—they matched his hair—and he was looking down shyly. Her heart stuttered, seeing him like that, all flustered and sort of upset and cute.

She froze, muscles tensing up, once she realized what she'd just said to herself.

Cute?

No, no—she'd been here before. Fall desperately in love with the best friend, feel the pain and the hurt when he takes some other chick to the dance. She didn't want to go there again. That's why she'd left in the first place, wasn't it? Because she was sick of being the girl next door, the one who is left behind and is seen as a little brother? And if she went down this road, that's exactly what she'd end up being—again.

So she tucked that thought into the back of her mind, refusing to allow herself to think it ever again. He wasn't cute. He was Natsu, her next door neighbor and old best friend.

Or was he still considered her best friend? She wasn't sure. Things had been kind of tense up until this point, but she didn't really blame either one of them for being awkward—it had been a while. But, he'd said he'd missed her and she'd said it back and now the air was sort of calm and comfortable, and maybe things would be okay.

"I saw you at school," Natsu said, a smirk on his lips. "You didn't see me at all, did you?"

Lucy frowned. "You did? I looked for you, but I couldn't see you anywhere."

The boy started to laugh, and her frown deepened.

"What's so funny?" Lucy asked, eyes narrowing at him.

"Luce." Natsu snickered. "We have first block together. You seriously didn't see me? I have pink hair, for god's sake."

She couldn't help but grin, a reaction to his bubbly laughter. "Are you serious? You're kidding me, right?"