Dinner had gone as it usually did with Natsu setting the table and Aina helping her mother with the cooking. Aina was about to take Natsu home when she got a desperate call from Lucy. Kelia offered to bring him home, so Natsu gathered his stuff and followed her out to the car.
"What's up, Luce?"
"I need you to come over and help me with something. My dad totally wants me to be present for his work dinner and I'm supposed to dress up for it and I'm freaking out."
"Okay, okay. I'll be right over. Please don't start ripping your hair like you usually do."
"No promises."
Aina quickly grabbed her phone and keys, rushing out the door and to her car. She arrived at Lucy's house and let herself in, fast-walking past her father and up the stairs.
"Did he see you?"
"Not that I know of. He didn't acknowledge my presence if he did."
"Good. Now I have a couple of options that I picked out."
Aina was expecting around three options. She was, however, pitched about ten.
"Lucy, what the fuck?"
"I hate getting in front of his work friends because they all make me nervous and I feel like I have to impress them all."
Aina looked at the choices and started to narrow it down. She picked up a navy blue v-neck dress that was off the shoulder. Lucy stared at the dress before smiling and taking it from her friend.
"Oh thank you so much! This is perfect. What would I do without you?"
"Pretty sure you'd have a breakdown by this point."
"I love you so much. Hey, why don't I make it up to you by inviting you to--"
"Not a chance, Heartfelia."
She groaned and begged, but she was met with the same answer. Lucy finally gave up and waved her off as she pouted.
Natsu and Kelia drove through the dark streets, Natsu giving her directions to his apartment building.
"Thanks. Miss Labelle."
"Don't even worry about it. Now make sure to go to school tomorrow. You shouldn't miss too many days. They might fail you."
"Don't worry about that. Nobody wants me enough to fail me."
Kelia sighed and waved him off, making sure he got inside before heading home. She arrived at the same time as Aina, and she met her daughter in the driveway with a quizzical look.
"Lucy has a dinner party and didn't know what to wear."
Her mom laughed loudly and wrapped an arm around her before leading them both inside.
"So Natsu says that you two have another project together. That must be fun."
"Yeah. Sure. Fun."
"Do you still like him?"
Aina's eyes went wide before she looked off to the side. She avoided eye contact with her mom and walked straight into the living room.
"Aina dear, it's useless to hide things from your mother."
"Yeah, I guess I still do. Why?"
"I just think that it might work out a little better now than it would before."
"You're only saying that because of Tyler."
Kelia shrugged and went up to bed, leaving Aina in the middle of the living room. She sat down on the couch and flipped through the stations. A buzz on her phone notified her of a text, and she giggled.
Can't wait to smell like fish.
Is that a new cologne you're trying? Doesn't sound too appealing.
Very funny. Switch jobs?
No way in hell.
Aina climbed up the stairs and flopped onto her bed. She raised her hands in the air and wiggled her fingers before letting both arms fall to her sides. She winced when her bad wrist hit the bed, carefully picking it up again and smiling when she saw the green start to come in. Her smile was short-lived. He was coming back in a few weeks. And only she knew how far his temper would go.
-------
Natsu took his stuff from his table and brought them over to Aina's so that he could annoy her. She looked up from her book.
"You were on time today."
"I was let out a little early this morning, so I actually had time to get here."
"Well since you're here, we can start to work on that project."
"Aren't you gonna rush through your homework like usual?"
Aina shrugged, saying that she had already completed the homework that she needed to get done. When she was asked how, she simply explained that she had been slowly getting ahead on homework so that she could have a day off.
"What are you reading then?"
"I'm reading ahead on the play."
"You're like, super weird."
Aina ignored him and turned back to the play. Natsu gently lowered the book down so that he could see her face again and motioned towards the door in the back of the library. He grabbed her hand and went to hold it when she suddenly pulled away. He gave her a questioning look, but he found his answer when Gajeel whistled for him to sneak out.
"You better go. I don't know Gajeel all that well, but I assume he wouldn't really understand you wanting to stay inside a library."
He gave her one last look before grinning and slipping out. Aina focused on the play once more, laughing at some scenes and jotting notes down in her notebook. She became distracted a few minutes later, and she couldn't seem to focus again, so she decided to give herself a break from reading it. Her psychology textbook was the next thing to be opened, and she started to read the next chapter.
-------
"So what's up with you and the salutatorian?"
Natsu raised his eyebrow at Gajeel and Bickslow, asking them to elaborate. Gajeel snickered and handed Natsu another beer.
"You seemed awfully cozy in that library."
"Yeah," he smoothly lied, "because our wonderful principal put her in charge of me again until that asshole comes back."
"For what? Anger management?" Bickslow taunted.
"Who knows, but it's definitely an interesting time."
"Yeah, interestingly boring," Gajeel commented, chugging his beer and tossing it to the side.
"How'd the courts go, my friend?"
The three of them turned to see Loke ducking under the metal bar of the lower level parking lot. Natsu groaned and told them that the judge told him he needed to go to a program for anger management.
"Gross."
"It's not like I just openly beat people in my spare time, so I don't get why I have to go through all that when I don't even need it. What's an anger management class gonna do? Tell me to not be angry at things I'm already not angry about? It sucks."
"At least that guy got what he deserved. He's a real asshole. Third in the class or not."
Bickslow agreed with Gajeel, adding, "Yeah at least the top two are bearable people that are just a little too straight edged. That guy is surely something else."
"No man should ever lay his hands on a woman," Loke stated matter-of-factly. "My hands are for loving a woman, never harming her."
"Believe me," Natsu taunted, "we know."
-------
"Sting, I came up with a great idea."
The blond showed that he was listening as he propped his head on his hand. Aina started explaining that he should teach his fish to go through an obstacle course with different hoops and tunnels. Sting smirked as he whipped out his phone and showed her a video of one of his fish doing exactly what she was describing. He puffed out his chest as she swore at him and gave him the middle finger. His laughter filled the classroom.
-------
Aina strolled over to her locker and grabbed her coat, casually throwing it on before she started to pack her books. She caught sight of a mop of pink hair and quickly closed her locker to catch up to him.
"Natsu!"
At the sound of his name, Natsu turned around, scanning the hallway for who had called him. He saw a short girl running towards him and smiled. She leaned on her knees and caught her breath as he spoke.
"What's up? I almost didn't see you, sweetheart. You're too short."
"I wanted...to make sure you had a...ride home."
He laughed and said he was just going to hang out with his friends in the parking area for a while. Aina stood up straight and nodded, fastening her bag on her back again and turning around. He teased her about being forward, but she chose to ignore it.
"What was that all about, A?"
Aina turned to Levy and shrugged.
"I just wanted to make sure he got home."
-------
There's a fair in town. Wanna go?
Don't you need to work at 10?
Day off. You still get out at 6 tonight?
Aina smiled brightly at her screen and agreed. She couldn't help the jitters that were sent through her stomach.
"Miss Aina, do you think you can help me with the conure? I don't think she likes me very much."
The brunette soothed Wendy, saying that she didn't like anyone when she needed her nails trimmed. Once they were able to clip her nails, the conure calmed down and reluctantly went back inside her cage, glaring at the two girls.
"She hates me," Wendy whined.
"Birds can hold grudges, especially when it comes to nail trimmings. Just give her time."
The bell rang, and Aina quickly went back to her register to greet them. The rest of her shift seemed to fly by, but she credited that to the fact that she only had a four hour shift. She clocked out right on time and made her way to her car, quickly locking the doors and driving in the direction of Natsu's apartment building. She was buzzed in, and her feet quickly took her up to the seventh floor. Natsu answered her knocks and smirked when he saw her standing at his doorstep with an excited smile on her face. He motioned for her to come in, so she ducked under his arm and sat on the counter.
"Are you gonna get dressed? I wanna go on the ferris wheel."
Natsu shut the door and stood in front of her instead of going to change. She looked up at him and went to tell him to hurry up when she felt him bite the same spot where he had already left a mark. She cursed when a gasp escaped her lips. His smirk was easily felt. He began to move upwards towards her ear and kissed the spot that he had found the other day. Her grip tightened on his forearms and her eyes squeezed shut. She could feel his hot breath as he slowly started to sink his teeth into the skin. A small squeak left her mouth before she could stop it, and her cheeks flared up immediately.
"I-I think we should leave soon. The fair's g-gonna close."
He hummed, sending a vibration through her ear. She could feel her neck get hot, but Natsu leisurely ran his tongue across it. They stayed there in silence before Natsu laughed and pulled away.
"Are you ready then, sweetheart?"
She slowly nodded and jumped off the counter to wait for Natsu by the door. He returned with a shirt on and ushered her out the door. She felt the cool breeze blow over the newly made spot on her neck as they walked to the car. Natsu got into the passenger seat and smirked when he saw that she was red just below her right ear.
"Does this mean you'll wear your hair down longer, sweetheart?"
"What am I gonna tell my mom?" Aina whined. "I haven't even told her about the first one."
Natsu chuckled and ran his thumb across the new spot, mirroring his earlier actions from the old bruise. She shivered at his touch. The drive to the fair felt longer than it actually was, Aina too focused on what her excuse would be when Lucy inevitably found out. Levy wasn't someone to be worried about. She was the more soft-spoken one and would listen to Aina's explanation. All she could think about was Lucy's lecture that would surely follow this discovery. She inwardly groaned and decided the best thing to do was to just see how long she could go without them noticing. Aina's worries lessened as she was instead filled with excitement upon seeing the bright lights of the ferris wheel.
"We're going on that first."
Natsu looked up to see the top of the ferris wheel and looked back to the girl in the driver's seat.
"You sure? Isn't that supposed to be the last ride?"
"It can be the first and last one. It's my favorite ride."
He chuckled and got out of the car, quickly making his way over to Aina's side and playfully opening the door for her. She rolled her eyes as she was guided to the ground, and she huffed when she saw his smug smile.
"I am not too short!"
He hummed and tugged her along, walking towards the giant wheel. A small cheer echoed in his ears once they saw that the line to the ferris wheel was shorter than expected. Once in the line, Aina couldn't help but jump up and down excitedly.
"This is gonna be so fun! I love the fair. You had such a great idea."
They patiently (or not so patiently) waited in line, Aina squealing in excitement when they reached the front. Aina was the first of the pair to jump into the cart, frantically waving Natsu inside. The ride proctor took one look at the pair and started laughing before giving a thumbs up to the brunette. The ride started, and Aina looked out the window to watch the other rides. They reached the top, Natsu pointing out the car in the parking area.
"I could stay up here forever."
There was a loud 'thunk' and the cart swayed back and forth. They heard a motor squeaking as it tried to move.
"You did not just jinx us," Natsu muttered.
Aina leaned out the window to see what was going on and Natsu quickly grabbed her ankle.
"You're gonna fall out and I'm not picking your flattened corpse off the ground."
She giggled and retreated back into the cart. She studied Natsu's face before smiling and sitting on his side, scooting closer to him. He breathed out in content, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.
"You know," Aina started, "I think the teachers would like you a lot if you acted like this in school. Just a thought."
"Oh?" Natsu questioned before countering with, "You want me to kiss and cuddle the teachers now, eh?"
Aina rolled her eyes and playfully smacked his arm. She tilted her head up to look at him before leaning up to kiss his cheek. He smirked and shifted, taking her chin and raising it so that he could kiss her better. Her hands rested on his shoulders, but they quickly dropped to her lap when he pushed her head to the side and started kissing her neck.
"Natsu," she whined, "I can't afford to have my neck all bruised up. People will stare and my mom will kill me."
She gasped when his teeth grazed the newer one by her ear. Her breath started to become quicker, and she squeaked a few seconds later. He gave the spot a teasing kiss before pulling away and brushing his nose to her lips. Aina looked out the window and back to Natsu, looking out the window a second later. She spoke up hesitantly.
"Natsu?"
His eyes slid over to her and he raised an eyebrow.
"I, um, I..."
"What?"
"I want to try."
Natsu let out a low laugh at her timid request, shifting sideways so they were sitting face to face on the same side.
"I'm certainly not stopping you, sweetheart."
Aina puffed her cheeks up in indignation. He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. She became flustered, but she still leaned into his neck and kissed the base. He urged her to continue, but she pulled away with a dark blush on her face.
"I'm doing it wrong, aren't I?"
"Aina, you didn't even start," he laughed.
She pressed her lips together in a line before leaning back over. Natsu jolted.
"Don't bite too hard, sweetheart. You gotta leave some skin on me," he teased.
She squeaked a small "sorry!" and pulled away again.
"I'd give you a demonstration, but you've forbidden me from giving you another one."
"Is there a place where my mom can't see?"
"Oh there are plenty of those, sweetheart, but I don't think a ferris wheel is where you wanna go about those."
"You know what I mean!"
"I mean the first one is starting to fade, so if you wanted I could just make it appear again."
Aina groaned, regretting asking a question that she knew was going to be the subject of teasing for the rest of the night. Natsu took one look at her and snickered at her dark red cheeks and darting eyes. He scooted closer to her and whispered in her ear.
"Just pay attention, 'kay?"
Before Aina could nod, she felt him kiss the spot before his tongue darted out. He blew on it, causing a shiver to go through her body. Another kiss was given before she felt his teeth slowly sink in. She took in a sharp breath when he bit down slightly harder. She felt him suck, and squeezed her eyes closed as she studied his movements. He distanced himself and sat up straight against the cart.
"Think you can remember?"
"Uh, yeah."
She crawled over to him again before leaning on his shoulder and repeating what he had done. After she was finished, she looked at him shyly for confirmation, and he chuckled and nodded.
"See? Wasn't that bad, right?"
"How come you didn't react like me? Did I not--"
"I don't usually react that much if someone leaves one on my neck."
"So where do--"
"Nobody really figures that out."
"O-Oh."
The ferris wheel made another 'thunk' before it started moving again. Aina refused to make eye contact with Natsu for the rest of the way, and he tittered at her shyness and clear inexperience. They hopped out of the cart, Natsu tugging her away from the lines. He looked at his phone and addressed the brunette.
"We were up there so long that the fair is about to close. We have time for one more thing, so pick your poison."
"Um, what about the food? Fried dough at the fair is always the best!"
Her enthusiasm and energy had quickly returned, and she skipped through the paths on their way to the food trucks. They were able to get the food rather quickly due to the late time and emptier grounds, and they sat under a tree as they ate.
"Can I try one?" Aina asked as she pointed to Natsu's plate of fries.
"Only if I can have some of your fried dough."
Aina quickly agreed to the deal and grabbed a couple fries after she broke off a piece of the fried dough.
"This was fun. We should do it again sometime."
Natsu laughed, making a joke about how the ferris wheel should probably be the very last thing they do from now on.