a/n ;; YEAH I TYPICALLY DON'T DO AUTHOR NOTES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CHAPTER BUT !!!! I'M SUPER EXCITED TO GIVE YOU ALL BETTER CHAPTERS !!! lmk if you see a difference <3
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wendy barreled off the jet, arms outstretched. "freedom at last!" she exclaimed, stealing a breath of salty beach air. lucy followed suit; though she was excited, nothing could quite match wendy's enthusiasm. she glanced behind her at natsu, who looked sick. he nearly fell face-first into the pavement as he made his way down the stairs. she scooped him up by his arm and studied him. "you okay?"
natsu swallowed his sickness and nodded hesitantly. "glad to be back on the ground."
"likewise." the jet had been luxurious, but a small space with the ever-furious gray and natsu wasn't exactly somewhere she would choose to be for an extended period of time. she swore she felt the jet rocking with every punch they threw.
nevertheless, they were on solid ground now. juvia, gray, and erza trailed behind them. erza was hauling an impossible number of suitcases. lucy blinked. she thought she packed too much for trips, but erza was just on another level entirely. finally, all the luggage had been unloaded and handed to a concierge, who would be leading them to their rooms.
there were three rooms in total, lucy discovered. they would divide themselves evenly among these rooms and stay at the hotel for a week.
"it would make sense if the boys shared a room," erza hummed. "but you can never trust those blockheads. they'd rip the hotel apart." she watched as gray and natsu took off and furrowed her eyebrows. "i'm going to go after them." she sprinted off at a terrifying pace before lucy or wendy could say anything.
"how about we do this?" wendy piped up, a little at erza's sudden departure. "you and natsu can share a room, gray and juvia can share a room, and erza and i can share a room. perfect."
"this sounds like the beginning of an 'and there was only one bed' cliché," lucy sighed defeatedly.
"are you upset about that?"
"...not particularly."
"then that's that," wendy decided. "we'll tell the others when it's time to herd them into their rooms."
for once, lucy was actually on the receiving end of these secrets. she wasn't exactly sure it was something to be excited about. she sighed. "or we could just tell them now?"
"they're far ahead of us now," wendy nodded ahead of her. gray and natsu were racing to the hotel, and juvia jogged behind, blue curls flying behind her, determined to keep pace with her precious gray-sama.
lucy puffed her cheeks out in defeat. "but what if he doesn't want to share a room with me?"
"highly doubt that's the case," wendy mumbled under her breath, just barely loud enough for lucy to hear.
lucy feigned ignorance. "what was that?"
"nothing!" wendy smiled sweetly. "cmon, we'd better catch up to the others."
devious, lucy thought. she did not want to be on the wrong side of wendy's schemes. maybe i already am, she thought glumly, jogging to catch up to the ludicrously athletic fourteen-year-old in question.
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"here's your room, lovebirds," wendy declared, throwing open the door.
"wait- who?" natsu looked around wildly.
"oh, either pair of you will do," wendy flicked her wrist dismissively. "natsu and lucy or gray and juvia. i don't care which."
gray made a strangled noise. "you're putting me in a room with- with-"
juvia looked hurt, and gray tripped over himself to explain, spluttering and stuttering his way through a half-assed explanation. lucy snorted. "would you rather room with natsu?"
"no," gray admitted, glancing at juvia out of the corner of his eyes. "not sure juvia would want to room with me, though. not after what i just-"
"no, no! juvia would be honored, really."
"honored?"
"i-i mean, juvia is touched that you tried to spare her feelings and-"
"it's really just basic empathy- not that i don't care, but i mean, like-"
"could you move this dumpster fire inside, please? i'm getting a headache," erza sighed, and the pair wordlessly shuffled into their room.
"wait, who am i rooming with then?" natsu pointed at himself, confused. "juvia and i get along pretty well, and-"
"lucy. you're rooming with lucy."
"i'm what?" he spluttered, glancing over at the blonde.
"ouch," lucy shrugged. "told you so, by the way. i knew he wouldn't want to."
"no! no, i mean, it's not like- i mean-"
"you boys are awful at romance, clearly," wendy pinched the bridge of her nose. "but not to worry! expert wingman wendy is on the case! now, shoo! go have heartfelt conversations alone in a hotel room!"
"there'd better be two beds, little girl," lucy warned, opening the door next to gray and juvia's. she sighed. "what more could i have possibly expected?"
"what? what is it?" natsu planted his chin on her shoulder to look into the room and groaned defeatedly. "there's only one bed."
"cuddles!" wendy cheered.
"you'd better only be cuddling," erza warned.
"we- don't plan on even cuddling," lucy admitted, trying her best to ignore the way natsu was smooshing his cheek on her shoulder as they spoke.
"i'll sleep on the couch," natsu decided finally.
"you'll ruin your neck," lucy scolded. "i'll sleep on the couch."
"then you'll ruin your neck," natsu retorted. "we could call for another mattress?"
"actually, akane doesn't offer extra mattresses," wendy singsonged.
lucy sighed. "there's no way around this. we have to fulfill the cliché before she lets us off."
"we're going to be doing this for a week!" natsu protested.
"look, we can just keep to our little corners of the bed, and we'll be fine," lucy said.
wendy snorted. "that's not going to work, but whatever."
"let us hope, you little brat," natsu hissed, sticking his tongue out.
"erza! natsu's being mean to me!"
"was not!"
"were too."
"was not! you were mean to me first!"
"get in the damn room, natsu." erza growled.
"yes ma'am."
natsu crashed down on the bed, arms spread, and sighed contently. "comfy."
"scoot," lucy ordered, and natsu obediently rolled onto his side to make room for her. she crashed down and shut her eyes. "what time is it?"
"late," natsu decided, closing his eyes. a faint smile flickered on his lips.
"bedtime, then?"
"mm. suppose so."
lucy yawned. she'd gotten little to no sleep on the jet, what with natsu and gray's loud snoring. she shut her eyes and pulled up the covers. "night."
"night," natsu returned. her eyes were shut, but she could tell he was making a huge show of staying to his side of the bed. she muffled a giggle.
and with that, a wave of tiredness swept over lucy, and she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
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lucy woke up to natsu's arm fastened tightly around her waist. his face was pressed into her shoulder, and he was snoring loudly.
"oi," she pulled his face out with one hand and shook it gently. "wake up."
"mm, five more minutes," natsu mumbled.
"get out of bed, or so help me, i will drag you out by your ear," lucy returned.
"owie," natsu said drowsily. "okay, okay, i'm up."
"go take a shower," she let go of his face and tried her best to look stern. "shoo."
"alright, alright," natsu raised his hands up in surrender.
"if you take forever, i'll murder you."
"while i'm naked?"
"i'll close my eyes the whole time."
"somehow it's very in character for you to kill someone with your eyes closed."
"does this mean i'm terrifying?"
"absolutely."
"good. now shoo."
"yes ma'am," he saluted with two fingers mockingly.
natsu scrounged up his clothes from the laundry and took a brief shower. "your turn. make it quick."
lucy took a significantly longer time than natsu. she changed into one of the outfits wendy packed for her; a baby blue halter top and navy blue shorts. a pair of yellow and blue sneakers was also in the mix.
"you took so long," natsu complained.
"i will slam your head into the pavement if you whine at me one more time," she swore.
"aw, you wouldn't."
"i'll get erza to do it."
"...heyy lucy, my best friend, you would never do that, right?"
"best friend?" lucy looked startled.
"yeah? i mean, think about it, i've got people like erza and gray, but- well, you know how well i get along with them. and i've got wendy, but she's my little sister; that's different. but you're- you're like the first person i actually get along with who wasn't handpicked by my parents."
she knew that feeling all too well. "oh, uh, thanks," was all she could say.
"anyways, let's get going before wendy gets the wrong idea," natsu said, picking at his collar. he was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, and a pair of sunglasses was perched atop his head.
lucy shuddered at the thought and opened the door. "oh, gray and juvia. hey."
juvia narrowed her eyes at lucy. "you said gray-sama's name before juvia's. are you a love rival?"
"how does that-"
"by saying his name before mine, you place extra importance on gray-sama, showing you care for him, which means you're a love rival."
"um, it's just because gray's standing in front of you," lucy said.
"interesting," juvia tapped her chin. "but then again, you could just be saying that to cover for yourself. are you sure you're not a love rival?"
"positive."
"juvia will keep an eye on you anyway," juvia decided, nodding wisely.
natsu wrinkled his nose. "she said she's not interested in gray. why are you stalking her?"
juvia turned to natsu and smiled knowingly. "ah. maybe juvia will take wendy-san up on her offer after all. this seems interesting."
gray snorted. "i already agreed because i thought it would be funny."
lucy held her hands out in front of her. "pause, wait. what offer?"
juvia pressed her finger to her lips. "that's a secret."
"look, i don't know what weird things wendy told you, but-"
"your posture says enough, lover boy," gray rolled his eyes. "i've spent most of my life living on the streets. i know how to read people. you're righthanded, yeah? you're pointing your left foot in lucy's direction. in case there's a fight, you're in the optimal position to step in front of her and start swinging. you're subconsciously positioning yourself to protect her."
"wait, aww, that's sweet," lucy cooed.
"wait, that doesn't say anything though, i could just be standing this way because-"
"dude, you're literally leaning in her direction as we speak," gray crossed his arms. "your torso is tilted to her side and you only move your head to look at us when we're talking. you've got a clear favorite."
"gray-sama came with receipts," juvia cooed.
"i-uh, it's no big deal," he waved dismissively. "you just pick these things up after a while."
"oh my god, if you're going to make shit up, can you not flirt while doing it?" lucy's fingers flew to her nose bridge. "it's just insulting."
"we're not-"
"language," wendy screeched, throwing her door open from across the hall.
"how did you..?"
she strode over to them, erza in tow. she was in a dark blue sundress that cinched at her waist, and her hair was pulled back in a bun that sat at the top of her head. a pair of mom sunglasses sat on her face. "my language radar went off."
erza was in a white tank top and a pair of dark jeans. her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and a sunhat was perched on her head. gray and juvia were both in dark blue, but gray was in an open button-up and juvia was in a t-shirt that she had tied up to her ribs.
"okay everyone," erza clapped her hands together. "we're going to grab breakfast and then we're heading to the waterpark. any objections?"
"nope," lucy shrugged. "as long as you guys didn't pack a weird swimsuit."
"we packed a bikini, relax," wendy drawled, waving dismissively.
"i've never been in a bikini! i'll probably look awful."
"oh, you won't," natsu snorted.
"he just doesn't think you can look bad in anything," juvia singsonged.
"and what if that's true, huh?" natsu snapped. "go make out with the icicle or something."
"you're on thin fucking ice with that word, natsu," wendy warned.
"you just said fu-" natsu protested
"do as i say, not as i do!" wendy retorted.
"can we rewind to the bit where natsu doesn't think i can look bad in anything, please? still kind of processing that."
"oh, take all the time you need," wendy laced her fingers together with a grin. "but come to breakfast eventually!"
"i'll be there!" lucy protested, but the four had already run off, leaving natsu and lucy alone in the hallway.
"so, uh, about the-"
"you don't need to explain, they were just being stupid about it," she promised. "i'm sure you were just being nice."
"yeah, sure."
"you're really not helping your case."
"hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"whatever. let's just go down to breakfast."
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breakfast took far too long, in wendy's opinion. in any case, she had herded everyone out now, and that's what mattered. she wiped maple syrup from her mouth and sighed dramatically.
"everyone else has partners, where're mine?" she whined.
"ooh, i'm down to play matchmaker," lucy wrung out her hair. natsu had dragged her into the pool, but he quickly got bored of that, so he was off seeking thrills, she assumed. either that, or he was grabbing snacks. wendy should've asked him for some. "what's your type?"
"you're asking me which way i swing? uhh, no preference," she shrugged. "as long as they're pretty and nice and treat me well."
"good taste, good taste," lucy hummed absentmindedly, scanning the area. "we've got that pink-haired girl over there," lucy pointed. "how 'bout her?"
"which pink haired- wait, that one? oh my god she's pretty," wendy gushed.
"or that other boy over there," she nodded in another direction.
"shit! he's cute too! what do i do?"
"introduce yourself to both and have them fight over you."
"you're evil."
"takes one to know one. anyways! i'll bring them over. stay right here."
a few minutes later, she emerged with both cute people in tow. "okay! this is chelia and this is romeo. both of you, meet wendy!"
wendy was awful at reading people. do they hate me? they probably think i'm weird. why couldn't i have been born prettier? i should ask lucy how she does her makeup. i should've worn a different swimsuit!
"wow, you're pretty," chelia leaned in uncomfortably close. "are you into girls?"
"u-um," wendy started. her face flushed red, and lucy snickered. "yeah. i'm into anyone as long as they treat me well, really." this is revenge! she realized. i am going to lock those two in a sauna together next, i swear.
"i suppose she is kind of pretty," romeo ducked his head and blushed. he's a tsundere! oh no, that's cute!
"oh, first come first serve," chelia cracked her knuckles.
"those are fighting words," romeo stretched out his arms.
"fight, fight, fight," lucy cheered.
"don't egg them on!" wendy protested.
natsu appeared behind them. "what's happening here?"
"they're fighting for the heart of your little sister," lucy declared.
"if either of you breaks her heart, i'll snap your neck," natsu said casually, sticking a spoon in the dippin' dots. "yo, lucy, want some?"
chelia and romeo collectively gulped.
"okay, hey, let's do this, since i don't think wendy wants you to fight over her," lucy offered. "each of you gets a date with her, and she makes the final decision."
"fine by me," wendy said, and the other two murmured their agreement.
"then we'll do that tomorrow," lucy decided, clapping her hands together. "we'll spend the rest of the day at the waterpark, and we'll meet you guys at your date spots, okay?"
"okay! that's that!" wendy said hurriedly. "i'm off to go to the pool, okay? okay! bye!" she raced off, ears bright red.
the other two scattered shortly after that, leaving natsu and lucy to share a cup of dippin' dots.
"we're totally tagging along for both of them," lucy decided.
"that goes without saying. i wanna see how those two will treat my baby sister."
"we've gotta go undercover," lucy nodded.
"oh, sick, it's like a heist," natsu grinned. "except wendy isn't planning it."
"oh dear. wendy isn't planning it. how well is this going to go?" lucy sighed, placing another spoonful of dessert in her mouth.
"aw, we'll be fine," natsu waved dismissively.
"somehow i doubt that," lucy sighed, finishing the cup off. "in any case, i saw this one ride that i wanted to go on. you coming with?"
"absolutely."
"race you there?"
"you're on."
they discarded the remains of their short-lived snack and sprinted off into the distance.
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wc ;; 2,839
a/n ;; MHMMM i'm actually happy with the quality of this chapter idk :') lmk if you enjoyed by voting & commenting bcs it really encourages me to continue! ily guys, pls take care of yourselves <3