Don't Burn On My Watch

7

I could tell that Lucy had a 'thing' for Natsu. Which, in any other case, would have made me jealous, but I know Natsu.

At breakfast in the morning, it was just the two of us. Happy regularly stayed out for a few days when he went fishing, so it wasn't a big issue.

I swallowed a big chunk of french toast and cleared my throat. Natsu looked up from his food, cautiously. "What's up?"

"What... Do you think of Lucy?" I asked. I was watching his body language, which was practically his tell for when he was lying.

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "I don't."

"Well I mean, she clearly likes you." I said. "Would you ever date her?"

He choked, his coughs turning into laughter. "No, never."

I raised an eyebrow and took a sip of my water. "Why did you laugh?"

"It's such an absurd... question. Of course I wouldn't." He said. "She's annoying."

He stared at me and then nudged my foot under the table. "Hey."

I looked up at him.

"I'm with you. And I'm extremely happy."

He stood, bringing his dishes to the sink. I sat at the table and played with my food. He walked over and hugged me from behind, kissing the top of my head.

"I've gotta go, but I'll talk to you later."

He left, and minutes after, Holly entered. I held my finger up to my lips, motioning for her to be quiet.

"You can come out now." I said, drinking the rest of my water.

Holly looked to the closet, confused. Nothing happened, and she walked over and slid the door open, revealing Lucy standing among the shoes and coats.

"What the hell?" Holly said, pushing her out.

"I can explain." Lucy said.

"Please." I crossed my arms and Holly walked across the room to stand next to me.

She hesitated, and sighed. "Natsu loves me. I can tell."

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm only here because..." She stopped to think, and then smiled. "Natsu asked me to be here."

Holly laughed. "You? Him?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. I know him. I know Natsu.

"It's the truth." She shrugged.

"Listen, honey," Holly said. "What ever crap you're trying, it's not going to work."

"I've been here all night." She continued. "When you fell asleep, Natsu came back to his room to me, lying there."

Holly marched over to the front of the house and opened the door. Lucy left, smugly.

I sat on the couch, and sighed.

"Listen Violet," Holly said, comforting me. "Natsu is too much of a loser to cheat. He knows what he has is good, and he doesn't want to give that up."

I nodded. "I guess I can only hope that you're right."

Holly patted my back and left, lingering at the door for a second to make sure I was okay.

I need to talk to Natsu.

When I made my way over to the guild, I found Natsu sitting at the bar next to, of course, Lucy. I just have to keep calm.

I made my way over to the bar and sat down next to Natsu quietly. He turned around to see who it was, and smiled when he saw it was me.

"Hey, honey."

I sighed and motioned for Natsu to follow me.

"I gotta go." He said, waving to Mira. Lucy watched him follow me out the door and smirked. Why does she act like this? "So, Violet, do you want to talk to me about... something?"

"Yeah." I said, walking to the beach. When I sat down in the sand and didn't break my gaze from the horizon, he got more confused.

"Did I... do something?"

I took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Did you ever have a 'thing' with Lucy?"

He looked briefly shocked, and hesitated before saying, "No."

"See," I said, looking at him. "Why did you hesitate?"

"I liked her when we met but it quickly led to nothing."

"Why did I find Lucy in our closet this morning, saying she was with you last night?" I said. "I didn't wake up next to you in the bed. How am I supposed to know if she's lying or not?"

"Look. She's lying, Violet. I would never do that to you."

I didn't reply for a while and avoided Natsu's eyes. The sun was almost setting and the sky was starting to get cloudier.

"Do you love me?" I asked, quietly.

"Do I?" He repeated.

I turned to look at him.

"Of course I love you. We've only met just recently but I know that you and I have something different. I could never love Lucy, or even like her. I like you. I love you."

"...I love you too."