"did gajeel tell you anything about where was going?" gray barked. juvia's car was trailing behind them. she had paused to kick her former teammates out.
"levy said they were going to the café off of hydrangea street. the one that just opened up," wendy said, popping another troia mint in her mouth and handing natsu a mint as well.
"i know the place. how many speeding laws are we breaking today?" gray asked erza, his eyes glued to the windshield.
"as many as it takes," erza said through gritted teeth. something told lucy that she was usually a stickler for the rules, but this was clearly an exception.
"hold on," gray warned before speeding up significantly. lucy slammed against her seat and bit down on the inside of her cheek.
she hadn't known levy for very long, but she had seemed kind and bookish and pretty and just the kind of mellow person that gajeel needed to keep him grounded. she grit her teeth. she hadn't known gajeel for very long either, but she was not going to let a bunch of d-list gang weirdos take his future away from him.
natsu looked sick. lucy couldn't tell whether it was because of the car or because of the sickening events that had just taken place. "you good?"
natsu's jaw clenched. "fine."
"...if you say so."
gray swerved down hydrangea street, narrowly missing a few pedestrians, and screeched to a stop. "out. now."
"you don't have to tell me twice," natsu grumbled, throwing the door open. there was a crowd around the café, and police tape was plastered across the entrance.
lucy approached a bystander while the others hung back. "what happened here?"
"no one knows for sure, but they found two people unconscious in the café," the bystander replied, fingers fidgeting nervously. "apparently it's one of those dragneel kids. they're hurt enough, but they should be fine with time."
natsu's vision went red with rage. "i'm going to rip the heads off of those phantom lord idiots. i'll take that guy's other eye out. i'll slam their heads into the pavement and-"
"natsu, please, wait," wendy whispered. she gripped his arm, and natsu could feel her shaking. he softened, just a little. "just- don't do it without me, okay?"
natsu cursed himself in his head. this must've been harder for her than it ever could've been for him. "wouldn't dream of it."
he waited for her face to light up again. it didn't happen. her bright smile had vanished, leaving a vacant, somber look that was so unlike wendy that he felt like crying.
"one of them are awake!" a bystander called, and wendy and natsu rushed forward.
it was gajeel, rubbing his head and cradling a still unconscious levy in his arms. "she's okay," he said. "she'll be okay."
the bystanders scattered as lucy shooed them off. "i know him! he needs some space, alright?"
"it- it wasn't anyone i knew," gajeel managed when the crowd dispersed at last. "they hired some new goons. but they left in a rush saying they had a car to track down."
"then we already took them down," gray said.
"you... did..?" levy stirred and opened her eyes. "that's-"
"hey, careful, don't move too much," gajeel warned in a soft voice.
"no, no, i'm fine," levy assured them, gently untangling herself from gajeel. "really. a glass of water and a few bandages and i'll be up again."
"i've got bandages," erza offered, wrapping their heads up.
levy rubbed her head and smiled hesitantly. "so our first date was a flop then, huh?"
"date? he asked you out?" lucy widened her eyes.
levy nodded and grinned. "about time, too."
"oh, we can't let that date go to waste," lucy said. "you guys mind if we bring these two?"
"where are they going to sit?" wendy asked.
just then, juvia pulled up, and gajeel grinned. "juvia! meet my new girlfriend!"
juvia smiled. "juvia is happy for you."
"uh, juvia, could i ask you a favor?" gray twiddled his thumbs.
"of course! anything."
"uh, so we're headed up to that hill over there-" he pointed. "for a picnic. could you, um, drive these two there? you can come too, of course, we've got plenty of food."
"i-i'd love to!"
"great," he grinned. "see you there."
they slipped into their own car after levy and gajeel had sped off, and natsu snorted. "you are the worst flirt i've met in my life."
"i wasn't-!"
"could you, um, drive these two there?" he mocked. "you're hopeless."
"oh, shove it," gray grumbled, starting the trip down to the hill.
"only if you get that stick out of your ass first."
"i do not-!"
"pay attention!" erza barked. "you're going to miss this left!"
"yes ma'am," they chanted in unison as the car swerved to the left.
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
lucy and wendy unpacked everything and spread it across the little spot they had chosen on the hill.
"the sun's setting!" levy sighed. "we're just in time!"
"squeezed in a bit of ass kicking before sunset," natsu sighed, folding his hands behind his head. "perfect."
lucy settled herself down on the empty spot next to him and grinned. "just my kind of afternoon."
"oi, natsu, pass me the sandwiches," gray called.
"get them yourself, prick," natsu hissed.
"they are literally in your hands," gray sighed.
natsu furrowed his eyebrows at the tupperware container in his hands. "...here you go." he grumbled defeatedly.
lucy watched as the stars began to come out. she sighed dreamily. "they're gorgeous."
"this is a shit view," natsu said. "cmon, luce, we're climbing some trees."
there was a tree behind them that they had parked their cars under. natsu hopped up on the hood to reach the branches, and then he pulled himself up. he held his hand out to help lucy up as well. lucy sighed as the meteors began to fall. this really was a better view. she settled herself down and smoothed her skirt.
"...so, you're a heartfilia," natsu began.
"yeah," she sighed defeatedly.
"your brother's a fucking prick."
"i know, i hate lucas too," she hesitated. "i heard from somewhere that you used to have an older brother, too."
"keyword: used to," he sighed. "zeref's long gone now. died of unknown causes a while back."
"that's- shit, i'm sorry," lucy laced her fingers together. "i used to have a cousin. her name was michelle. i adored her. she was like a little sister to me. she died of leukemia."
"so we've both got dead siblings," natsu stared up at the sky. "how about layla heartfilia? what happened to her?"
"died in her sleep," lucy said. "she always was really frail after she gave birth to me."
"my mom died before i knew her, and my dad died recently," natsu hesitated. "sorry this got so dark."
"no, no, it's fine," lucy laughed nervously. "i think they would've liked me to tell their story to someone like you."
"someone like me?"
"um, cute, funny-"
"cute?" natsu hoped the darkness hid the red that was rapidly travelling across his cheeks.
"did i say that bit out loud? oh, shit-" she buried her face in her hands.
"you really think that? that i'm..?"
"yeah."
"oh, well, um, i think you're cute too."
"oh."
they ducked their heads. what a bunch of dorks.
"well, um," natsu cleared his throat. "we should be heading down now-"
"yeah! yeah, let's do that."
they climbed down the tree, a faint smile flickering across the lips of each of them.
⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻
wc ;; 1203
a/n ;; yes nalu moments. we love to see it. anyways gale are dating and erza's left without a date BUT i have a cool way to introduce jellal so jerza is postponed for the time being. not rly that proud of this one but i hope u all enjoy anyway!