One Of The Boys

We're A Thing

"Shh," Natsu whispered, nodding to the path up ahead. They were nearing the end of the school, to the point where they would break off from the sidewalk and hit the dirt path leading across the school's field; that path would eventually connect to the sidewalk that passed by their houses. But there was something up ahead that caught Natsu's interest; he clapped his hands over Lucy's mouth and kept his eyes trained on the darkness. "Look."

Lucy narrowed her eyes into the darkness, trying to see what he'd seen. After a couple seconds, she'd figured it out: there was a couple making out in the shadows of the school, leaning up against the building. She couldn't tell who the couple was.

Natsu's voice was in her ear. "Let's scare them."

Lucy grinned with excitement. The two crouched over, sneaking up on the unsuspecting couple making out heatedly in the shadows; Lucy and Natsu sneaked up, gave each other a signal, and then pounced up, screaming in order to scare the couple.

The girl screamed and the boy shouted and they jumped away from the wall, into the glow of the streetlight.

"Levy?" Lucy frowned.

Natsu made a face. "Gajeel?"

Levy and Gajeel looked at their feet. Both of their hair was messy and out of place; Levy's lipstick was smeared against her cheek a little bit. They both had red faces.

Natsu cringed at the awkwardness he'd just brought upon the entire group. "I—er, holy shit. I mean, we didn't mean to—and we didn't know you...I figured, um..." He trailed off, not really sure where to go with this. "Luce?"

Lucy's mouth was still open. She stumbled for a second, stuttering, trying to get some words out. "I—I didn't mean—Levy, I mean—we didn't know and..."

Gajeel grimaced. "Just go."

Natsu nodded, taking advantage of the opportunity. He reached down and grabbed Lucy's wrist, pulling her behind him as he jogged away. "Yup. Bye."

As they ran away, Lucy hollered back, "You better tell me everything!"

Lucy and Natsu snickered about the situation as they walked home, hands intertwined. The wind picked up as they walked and made Lucy shiver; Natsu tugged his sweater off and pulled it over her head. Lucy cuddled into herself; it was warm and toasty and soft and smelled like him.

They made their way up the porch steps, holding hands; Natsu pulled her hand up and pressed his lips to the back of her palm, kissing her hand sweetly. Lucy pulled him towards her and kissed his cheek. They made their way into the house, kissing each other in various spots: Lucy kissed his cheek, Natsu kissed her nose, so she kissed his chin and he kissed her forehead. They did all of this as they were backing into the house, smiles on their lips, in total bliss.

Until there was a tense 'a-hum' from the doorway, and both of the teens glanced up and saw Lucy's father watching them, arms crossed, stern look on his face.

Jude's voice was low. "Explain."

So, Lucy and Natsu awkwardly tried to explain to her father about how they were kinda sorta dating now, and how they'd liked each other all along the entire time and how they were more than best friends. Jude nodded along, clearly not impressed—all of the time he allowed them to sleepover with each other came back, haunting him.

Once they finished explaining, Lucy shyly peered up at her dad. "So...me and Natsu are now...a thing. So, yeah."

"That's great," Jude said, expression flat. "And where exactly where you two headed?"

Lucy shrugged. "My room. Gonna watch a movie, eat some icecream."

Jude stood up from his seat on the couch. "Not likely!"

Natsu made a face. "Why not, Jude?"

Jude shook his finger at Natsu. "No, no—none of that. No more sleepovers, no more late night gallivanting." He looked at Natsu. "No more running in here and emptying the fridge and calling me Jude. Now it's Mr. Heartfilia to you."

Natsu pouted.

"Dad," Lucy sighed. "We're just going to watch a movie."

"No boyfriends in the bedroom."

"Dad, come on!" Lucy cried. "It's Natsu!"

Jude had a little smirk on his lips, almost like he was amused by the two teens getting together and having to deal with this. "Yes. But before, Natsu was just the little brat who ate all my food—now, he's your boyfriend. No boyfriends in the bedroom."

Lucy groaned, annoyed.

"That's fine, Ju—um, Mr. Heartfilia." Natsu gave Lucy's father a wink; Jude rolled his eyes in response. "We'll follow the rules."

Jude let out a sigh. "Never thought I'd hear those words outta your mouth."

Natsu gave Lucy a smile. "I'll just go home. See you tomorrow?"

Lucy grinned back. "Of course."

Natsu leaned in for a kiss, but paused; he glanced over at Jude, whose face was nearly purple, now, and decided against it. Natsu leaned back and stuck his hand out for a high-five. Lucy snorted and slapped her hand against his, just like they did when they were younger.

Natsu left, clattering his way down the Heartfilia's porch; Lucy was stuck facing the awkward wrath of her father—who flew into a spiel about how chastity was the best birth control and how if she was going to be active, she should be safe because he was far too young to be a grandfather and he sure as hell wasn't ready to be a grandfather to Natsu's kid and Lucy cringed and told him to stop but he continued. After a while, once Jude had settled down somewhat, Lucy headed up to her bedroom, exhausted from the entire day.

Jude sat down on the couch and put his head in his hands. So far, his life here had been pretty peaceful. Lucy, as a child, had always been out with Natsu, and he'd never thought much of it. They'd been best friends, practically like siblings. Obviously, things had changed, but he'd never considered them dating a real option. He hadn't particularly wanted to.

Natsu was troublesome even as the best friend living next door. Jude didn't want to imagine the stresses of Natsu being over, being Lucy's boyfriend. Jude sighed, already stressed out, but with a smile on his lips. If his little girl was happy, he was happy. Even if that meant he'd end up being Natsu's father in law someday.

Lucy hopped up her stairs and turned into her room, surprised to see a familiar face awaiting her arrival across the little gap between their rooms. He had the can pressed against his mouth and was singing to her; she could hear it from the doorway.

Lucy grinned and made her way to the window, getting on her knees and grabbing her can.

He was singing Unchained Melody, the song they'd danced to when they were alone in the gym. Lucy blushed and closed her eyes, listening to his rough voice smoothly change pitch. After he finished, they started to talk.

And they didn't stop talking until three in the morning, when they both passed out at their window sills, cans smushed up against their faces.

They were best friends, neighbors, boyfriend and girlfriend. They were exactly who they needed to be, exactly where they needed to be.

Everything was perfect.