Sweetheart

24

Natsu huffed as he exited the girl's house, mumbling to himself.

"What does she mean 'too distracted?' That's stupid. It shouldn't matter. She's the one that asked me here."

He rolled his eyes and looked at his phone, seeing that he still had a while before work. A sigh left his lips as he casually strolled through the empty streets. He placed his earbuds in and turned on some music to distract him as he made the journey to the docks. He heard a 'ding' and looked down to his phone to see that he had another message. His eyebrows were raised as he opened it up.

"My mom and I drove by the pier earlier tonight and it looked super busy, so good luck at work!"

A smile formed on his face as he read Aina's words. He sent a quick text back thanking her before he slipped it back to his pocket and continued to listen to his music. He made it to the pier before his shift started, so he sat by one of the docks and looked at the boats. For some reason, he found himself opening the message over and over again, a small smile coming back. His face turned into one of confusion when he finally put his phone back, questioning himself as to why it made him happy.

"Dragneel, let's go! We have a big load coming today."

Natsu's head jolted up and he quickly nodded before getting up and stretching.

"Yeah yeah. I'm coming."

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"Sweetheart, can you come here for a minute?"

Aina yawned and lazily stumbled down the stairs to see her mom.

"What is it, mom?"

"I came up with a plan."

Aina looked at her mother funny and she tilted her head.

"I want you to invite this guy over tonight."

"What guy?"

"The one you seem to be gravitating towards."

Aina's face heated up and the tips of her ears burned. Kelia took one look at her daughter and lightly laughed at her shocked and flustered reaction.

"Well you don't think that I'm going to let you just go out with whoever you want after last time, do you? I'm never letting you do that again."

"Uh mom, that's really not necessary. I mean he doesn't even--"

"No debating this, Aina Maja Labelle. He comes over one day so I can feel him out and then I'll give you advice on how to deal with it."

"Mom, I really don't--"

"Are you debating, Labelle?"

"No ma'am!"

"Good. Your boss called and said that you have the day off today. Invite him for then."

"You cannot tell him that I like him, okay?" Aina firmly stated.

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Aina nervously looked around the eating area, her eyes searching for the salmon haired boy. Her heart raced when she caught a glimpse of his tattoos. Lucy interrupted her inner turmoil.

"Hey salutatorian, what's going on?"

"Oh, uh nothing. I'm just tired I guess."

The brunette locked eyes with Natsu from his table and she quickly looked away. She stood up abruptly and waved goodbye to Lucy before slowly walking over to Natsu. She stopped when she was standing behind Sting and Loke. Her quiet coughing made all the guys jump.