His Arrival

False Accusations

~~~Lucy's POV~~~(Thursday 9:00 a.m.)
Once we got to the school, we threw our cups away and headed to our lockers to get our books for 1st Hour.
"Hey Lucy?" Gray asked.
"Ya?" I looked at him and he had his curious face on, the one where he looked concentrated and thoughtful.
"What were you doing at the coffee shop so early in the morning? You know there can be some really scary people at–" he began but I interrupted. "Relax, Gray. I can handle myself and you of all people should know that. I had nightmares again and I couldn't go back to sleep," I answered him. I didn't mention the part where I tried staying over at his best friend's house.
He hesitated before saying "Oh."
I just nodded and we made our way to class. Everyone was already seated, we were almost late. We took our seats in the back, far left corner as always. Natsu was already in his seat in front of me. He gave me a smile and I returned it.
The first 3 hours went by in a blur and I assumed Gray was already at the table so I went to lunch. Sure enough, Gray, Gajeel, and Jellal were at the circular lunch table in the middle of the cafeteria, where we always sit. And not surprisingly, Gajeel having the most smug look on his face. Jellal passed me fruit from a nearby vending machine and I gave him a nod of appreciation.
I sat in a space between Gray and Jellal. Gajeel just to the left of Gray, so he wasn't in front of me but he was still in my line of view.
In an effort to make conversation, I cleared my throat and decided to mention track.
"So. Track practice starts tomorrow, excited?" I asked the group.
Gray didn't look up from his plate because he was too busy eating, but he nodded.
Jellal wasn't listening. His eyes were focused on a girl at the table to the left of us. Her name was Erza, she was a pretty scarlet-haired girl. Real mature too. Pretty sure she's Student Council President.
"You really do fancy her, huh?" I smiled at him, not trying to tease him, but genuinely asking him.
He shook his head out of his little trance and slightly nodded and smiled himself.
"I do. She's smart and independent and beautiful. I just don't know how to talk to her," he said, then turned back to look at her.
Gajeel chimed in, "Speaking of love," he smirked and looked at me.
"I saw Lucy and Gray cuddling at the coffee shop this morning. She was even asleep on his arm!" He laughed his slightly obnoxious laugh.
Jellal's eyes widened and he looked at me, then Gray.
"Really? Lucy, I didn't know you liked Gray like that," he seemed genuinely surprised and before I could deny anything, Gray beat me to it.
"It's not like that at all. You guys need to chill, she just fell asleep," he glared at Gajeel.
"Wait until Natsu hears about this," Gajeel grinned.
As if he heard us, Natsu came through the
lunch room door and over to our table with his usual bright smile plastered on his face.
"Speak of the devil," Jellal absentmindedly said and then turned to me and mouthed the words 'I'm sorry.' Probably because he's pre-apologizing for what's about to happen.
I gave him a smile that said I understood.
Natsu sat between Gajeel and Jellal, straight across from me.
Gajeel slung his arm around Natsu's head and whispered something in his ear, something that made his eyes grow wide. This pissed me off.
"Gajeel, what the hell does he have to do with that? Leave him alone, that literally had nothing to do with him and it's not even that important," I made it clear to him I was incredibly annoyed but I think it just amused him even more.
~~~3rd POV~~~
Natsu had just been told that Lucy and Gray were together and it made him a bit uncomfortable. Especially since Gajeel slipped a part to him saying something along the lines of "Lay off of Lucy now, she's taken."
He wasn't trying to get with her anyways. Sure she was cute and all, but not her type. At least he didn't think so.
"So it's true? I thought you guys were just really close," he said, munching on a sandwich.
"NO!" Lucy and Gray said simultaneously. Gray had no problem with what they were saying, but for Lucy's sake, he denied what Gajeel said despite how much he enjoyed it.
"Oh, heh," Natsu said and continued eating. He felt a small weight lifted off his shoulders which was a bit weird.
Lucy finally found herself relaxing so she began eating her fruit. Jellal was the one to break the silence this time.
"Natsu, track?" He asked curiously.
Natsu nodded, finishing the last bits of his sandwich. He gulped down some of Gajeel's water and cleared his throat.
"Totally, when does practice start?"
"Tomorrow," Gray answered, picking at his food.
Lucy felt uncomfortable around them so she decided she'd head to her locker and stay there for the rest of lunch.
"I'll see you guys later," she told her friends, with a slight hint of distress in her voice. Natsu noticed, but didn't say anything in fear of getting accused of liking her. Maybe when they all grew closer, it'd be understandable to care for all of his friends at the table, including Lucy. But for now, it'd just be kind of weird.
A little ways out of the cafeteria, Lucy heard the most annoying, bratty voice call her name.
"Heartfilia~!" She turned around and saw Lisanna at the lunch room entrance.
Lucy rolled her eyes, "What do you want?"
Lisanna walked up to her and picked at her nails.
"Stay away from Natsu, I've already called dibs, so don't pull any moves or you'll regret it."
Lucy scoffed, "Whatever you say, Lasagna. You can have him, I'm not interested anyways."
"Shut up, Heartfilia. You say that now but you sure do like to pull you're little tricks. Just leave him be and play with your other man hoes," Lisanna said before strutting off back to the cafeteria.
Lucy was left in her spot, clenching her fists. She was beyond angry, but she couldn't do anything about it. Starting a fight in school could cause an expulsion and she did not want that. Trying to shake it off, she began walking to her locker again.
"Lucy wait!" A voice stopped her from proceeding further.
Before she saw who it was, she turned around and straight gut-punched the person.
After doing so, she came to her senses and realized she had just punched Natsu.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she covered her mouth and kinda rubbed his back while he bent over, holding his stomach.
He managed a small laugh, "Hgh, you sure pack a big punch for your size."
Lucy smiled and said, "I didn't mean to, I swear. I was just really mad."
Natsu stood back up and walked to Lucy's locker with her.
"Yeah I noticed," he rubbed his stomach.
She just laughed and they walked the rest of the way in silence.
"So what did you need?" She asked him while grabbing her bag out of her locker.
"I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry for what happened back there. And uh, are you okay? You really did not seem happy."
Lucy looked up at him and studied his face.
"It's just Gajeel. He can be a bit too much sometimes. Especially when he starts with Gray," she groaned. "He's been trying to get us together for a while now and it's gotten annoying."
Natsu didn't know what to say. "Oh."
The bell rang and people started heading to their classes.
"Cya after school," she waved him goodbye and left to the far right side of the school, making sure no one saw or followed her.
She opened an untitled door which led to a staircase. Quickly racing up the steps, she was led to the door to the roof of the building. She opened it and breathed in the fresh air. She didn't skip often, she just wasn't doing much the last few periods of school so it didn't matter.
Lucy took books out of her bag, sat down, and began doing homework that would be assigned next week. Before she knew it, she was asleep.
~~~END~~~