[A/N] Updated previous chapter (The Little Spoon); added a new scene that explains new things going between Lucy. Please go back to read it. Duly note that the scene is after the two little girls depart from Natsu and Lucy.
♫ Here Comes Forever ♫
He stared blankly at the snoring blonde, watching her chest rise and fall with every peaceful sigh. Her hair shimmered perfectly against the morning rays. He looked beneath the blankets, only to see their tangled legs and her arm wrapped tightly around his torso. He chuckled lightly at the girl, trying to tug away at her embrace.
"She snores like a baby grizzly bear, how cute." He nuzzled his nose into her fruit-scented hair, soon making his way out of bed. He heard a slight shift on the bed, then suddenly feeling a small pair of arms wrapping tightly around his waist. He pouted, looking behind him to see Lucy's face smothering on his bare back.
"Morning, Pinky." She mumbled, her breath tickling his skin. He dangled his legs off the bed, his feet silently meeting the cold wood floor. He looked over at his alarm clock to read that is was Sunday, it being 10:46 AM. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he yawned at the thought of having to wait for Gray to arrive soon at his house.
He remembered telling Gray to drive him to his grandfather's house, however, not expecting Lucy to be getting a new car and also staying over for the night. Turns out he didn't really need Gray to come over today, after the unexpected events that occurred from last night. Though he didn't mind, since yesterday the two did ended up having fun overall. He peered over his shoulder again to look at the smiling blonde that squished her cheek agaisnt the small of his back.
"Morning, drooly face." He tugged at her hands, trying to escape her embrace once again. She hugged him harder, making sure he wouldn't leave the bed. Knowing Lucy being the stubborn girl, he knew he'd have to trick her into getting out of this situation.
"I want to cuddle with you." She whined softly. He mused at her comment, noting her affectionate behavior being seldom.
"But I have to pick up rent money from my gramps." He grumbled, trying to stand up, tugging her along with him as the blankets draped over the bed. He looked down to see her hugging his legs, the blankets scattered everywhere.
"But I want to sleep more." She moaned irritably.
"You look cute with my shirt on and just panties." He snorted. Lucy immediately noticed her sleep attire from last night, quickly covering her bare thighs and squeezing them together as her hands tried to cover her underwear.
"Pervert!" She shrieked with red cheeks. Disrupting their moment, Natsu's phone rang, the contact reading Gray Fullbuster who called. Natsu ran towards his nightstand and grabbed his phone, running down the steps to flee away from his girlfriend. She sat on the floor dumbfounded, blinking in confusion. Realization hitting her, she began running down the stairs faster than Natsu could.
Her feet pattered violently against the plank flooring, "Natsu, come back here!" Natsu peered behind his shoulder to see Lucy glaring daggers behind his head during her chase. He gulped, feeling her presence leering behind him. He shifted directions, trying to throw off Lucy. Unfortunately, Lucy was quick to see him switch directions which made him even more terrified.
"Lucy, please! I'm sorry!" He pleaded with an audible cry. He hopped over his sofa, his pillows tumbling down onto his carpet as Lucy hopped over both his sofa and his coffee table. He knew for sure that Lucy was way more athletic than he was if she was able to jump over two furnitures the exact size as her.
"Just come here!" Her hands groped the air, ready to grasp and pull him away. He diverted his eyes to the front door, knowing it was the only way out of this. He grabbed a hoodie lying on the floor, chucking it behind him. He heard Lucy yelp from the contact of the hoodie covering her face, distracting her from Natsu's attempt to leave the house.
He fiddled harshly with the door knob, his need to escape the torturous punishment that he may face being urgent. He hopped off the steps, seeing Gray leaning casually on his car, staring boringly at his phone screen. He looked up with tired eyes, though, his eyes widened in the state Natsu was in.
"Is something wrong?" Gray worried. As soon as Natsu was about to speak, Lucy clung herself onto his back, her arms latching onto his hair and her legs wrapped tightly around his waist.
"I'm going to kick your ass!" She yelled in his ear. He flinched, making him drop his phone, however, was more concerned that Gray was watching the two quarrel.
Gray noticed one of Natsu's shirt loosely hanging off Lucy's bare shoulder and that her legs were bare as well, "Lucy?" Lucy perked up to see Gray staring awkwardly at the couple. Her cheeks flushed furiously, as she quickly hid her face behind Natsu, digging her face into his hair.
"Uh, good morning Ice Prick." Natsu cleared his throat, his face probably redder than Lucy's.
Gray shook his head, chuckling at the two, "You guys with the PDA, again."
❖❖❖
Gray takes a sip of coffee from his mug, eyeing Natsu suspiciously. The pinkette bounced his knee nervously, his fingers tapping the sides of his own mug. Gray placed his mug down, Natsu carefully watching his every move.
"So you called me up for nothing." Gray hissed, his eyes narrowing. Despite being angry for driving to Natsu's place for nothing, Lucy offered breakfast which lured him to stay a bit longer. Natsu defensively threw his hands in the air, slightly jerking the table forward.
"I just told you, I didn't know Lucy was going to get a new car today." Natsu slouched in his chair, running his hands through his hair in dismay. Gray couldn't really tell whether his hair was either already messy from Lucy's chase or if his hair just happens to be disheveled from running his fingers through his hair so many times because of stress. Gray concluded that it could've been both.
Gray scoffed, crossing his arms, "You know, you're glad Lucy ain't here right now. She'd be saving your ass right now, like she always does." Natsu shushed him, warning him that he sent Lucy away for a reason. Most likely two reasons. One of the reasons if because he didn't want Lucy to be mad at him for not telling him about Gray coming over.
The other reason was because he didn't want Lucy walking around with no pants on, so he sent her to grab a pair of pants, "Look, Gray, it's fine. You can still drive us can you? I'm pretty sure Lucy wouldn't mind if we used your car instead." Gray scratched his head, sighing pensively.
"Sure. Besides, I got nothing today but drive an idiot and a beauty." He winked, taking another sip of his coffee. Natsu threw a kitchen towel at Gray's face, making him spit his coffee on the table.
"What the hell?!" Gray screamed from the burning sting at the hot coffee that also spilled onto his pants. He grabbed the kitchen towel and started pressing down onto the brown puddle on the table.
"I should be saying that! You can't just be complimenting Lucy in front of her boyfriend, who is in fact me!" Natsu hollered at him accusingly.
"What, it's not my fault Lucy is that hot!" Gray chucked the kitchen towel back at him. Natsu dodged it and began to threateningly pick up his coffee mug, slightly aiming it at Gray's face.
"If you say something one more time, I will throw all of my coffee at your face." He warned as he pushed the mug closer to his face. Gray gulped and let out a defeated groan. Natsu clicked his tongue and placed the coffee mug back down.
"Good, now there's an important matter I need advice about as we speak about Lucy." Natsu traced the rim of the white mug awkwardly. Gray noticed the flustered face Natsu was making as Gray bursted out laughing.
"I can't believe little ol' romantic Natsu here, is asking me for love advice. This day couldn't get any better." Gray smirked, his arms resting behind his head as he leaned back in his chair. Natsu gripped the coffee mug, Gray noting that his threat was not a bluff. He cleared his throat, the sound of the mug clinking upon the table silencing the violent atmosphere.
"What is it that you need talk about?" Gray leaned forward towards Natsu, the table creaking to Natsu's dismay.
"Last night, Lucy did something to me that made me feel degraded." Natsu over exaggerated his words, but he hoped Gray caught on to what he was saying. However, watching Gray's cheeks flare along with his enlarged eyes definitely made Natsu realize that he did indeed word his words wrong.
"You two did the deed?!" Gray flabbergasted with a shaking finger at Natsu. Natsu waved his hands dismissively at him, shaking his head vigorously.
"No! That's not what I meant!" Natsu retorted at Gray's assumptions, later calming down after realizing his raise of volume of his voice, "I meant Lucy was spooning me." Natsu huffed, his fingers running through his salmon locks again. Gray blinked at him in confusion, staring aimlessly at Natsu.
"So Lucy spooning you degraded you? Yeah, you definitely exaggerated your words." Gray rolled his eyes, the corner of his lips quirking up. Natsu waved a hand at him as if halting him.
"You don't get it, the way she spooned me felt as if I was powerless." Natsu lifted a shaking fist comically.
"Still exaggerating, nitwit."
"I was like the little spoon, and she was the big spoon."
"Damn, being the little spoon sucks, but being the little spoon specifically for Lucy is fine."
"Damn straight," Natsu smiled softly, soon he jerked his head at Gray, his eyebrows knitting angrily, "Hey, what did I say?!" Gray flinched as Natsu reached for his coffee mug again, watching the coffee slosh dangerously to his face.
Gray held his hands up, "Hey, wait, it's not my fault that Lucy has great tits—" Gray snapped his attention to the quiet steps that came down the stairs. The two calmed their sudden outbursts to see Lucy, who wore red checkered pants that seemed baggy and loose for her. She pouted with pink tinted cheeks, her hands stuffed in her pockets, only to hide her fiddling fingers.
Taking a seat next to Natsu as he placed an arm behind her chair. She took a sip from Natsu's coffee and winced at the taste, "Bitter." She pushed the coffee mug to the center of the table, cringing at the leftover taste on her lips. Natsu reached towards the mug that was pushed away, tasting it himself. Shrugging his shoulders, he gulped down the rest, eyeing Gray as he did so.
"So, I hear you guys bickering from all the way upstairs. What is it about now?" She crisscrossed her legs, lightly rocking on her seat. Gray waited for Natsu to finish his coffee, yet Natsu tortured him by slowly taking his time.
"I was going to drive Natsu to his gramps to pick up his rent money, but it happens to be for nothing now since you already have a car, as I've heard." Gray deadpanned, the clink of Natsu's mug on the table relieving him. Natsu handed the empty cup to Lucy and asked for a refill. Lucy nodded, later working on breakfast. Gray clenched his jaw, fighting back the words that may start an argument between him and Natsu.
Natsu smirked when Gray noticed his planned mischief, "Well, if it's fine with you babe, we can have Gray drive us both to gramps." Lucy added sugar into his drink, mixing it well until it soothed. Carefully carrying the hot drink to Natsu, she pecked his cheek and handed the drink to him.
"I'm starting to think that you guys are doing this PDA in front of me on purpose." His eyes gleamed with envy. They all knew he had a chance with any girl in the world, so there couldn't be no reason for him to be jealous. Gray was a picky person. He was just like Natsu with having the same type in girls. Thinking Natsu's hissing was from Gray's comment, Gray rolled his eyes, however Natsu sucked his bottom lip with an unpleasant look.
"Why is this coffee so sweet?" Natsu coughed at the strange taste. Lucy's small fists gently banged his broad chest like drums, biting the insides of her cheeks.
"Because it was bitter in the first place. I thought I'd you a favor, at least say thank you." Lucy remarked, slightly embarrassed that she failed to make his coffee. Gray slapped his forehead, shaking his head in disbelief and silently comparing his arguments with Natsu to the couple before him. He'd had to be surprised to say that Natsu and Lucy argued over small little nothings, just like they did.
"Well, that explains where the bitterness comes from." Lucy words spilled venom while Gray's snickering in the background teased Natsu. Natsu realized that Lucy was comparing his coffee preference to his personality as to why Lucy likes the taste of sweet things. Natsu chuckled alongside with Gray, confusing the two to which they expected him to throw a fit.
Natsu nuzzled into her hair and simpered, "As it also explains where the sweetness comes from for you." Gray stood up from his chair and slammed his hands on the table. Jumping from their seats, they part their gaze at the irritable Gray.
"I swear, you guys are going to be the death of me." Gray grunted, walking over to spilt the two apart. After being removing the two away from each other, Lucy stood behind Gray who blocked the two like a stiff wall that with no avail wouldn't fall. Hearing the toasts jump from the toaster, Lucy quickly ran to get them. She placed the toasts on each plate next to the scrambled eggs and bacon. Neatly putting them on the table, she turned and smiled at the boys, their angry faces fading into a smile.
During their minutes of eating, they talked about a few things that had happened weeks ago, "And then Levy appeared out of no where, screaming at us." Lucy handed the last piece of her bacon to Natsu as he muttered praises at how she was the best girlfriend.
"Did she beat the crap out of Natsu afterwards?" Gray smirked, hearing Natsu grunt.
"Of course she did. Levy is my best friend, if she say me with some guy, she'd loose her mind." Natsu gulped down the rest of his coffee and let out a satisfied sigh, his stomach no longer in need of being hungry.
"Well, maybe if Natsu wasn't such a dope, she'd probably be fine with it." Gray flicked his fork to point at Natsu, throwing into a fit of laughter.
"Levy said she was fine with us being together as long as Lucy's happy. Besides, Lucy forgot to mention how she protected me from Levy." Natsu crossed his arms in triumph. Gray flicked his head to look at Lucy, only find her smiling. She stood up, grabbing the finished plates and leaned down to kiss the top of Natsu's head.
Gray's gaze softened, wishing to have a wonderful relationship like them. All of their crazy adventures is what he always wanted to have, yet he could never find the right girl. He realized that more he spent time with Natsu and Lucy, the more he was neglecting his own love life and reflecting upon his need for one.
Gray sighed, "I came here so we can all go visit gramps, now let's go." Feeling a light tap on his shoulder, he turned to see Lucy with a questioning look on her face.
"Gramps?" Forgetting to mention Natsu's grandpa to Lucy for a long time now, Gray stood there confused.
"You know, Old Makarov. Short little dude. Pays for Natsu's rent." Gray motioned his palm below his waist to define Makarov's height. Lucy stared at his palm, shocked to know how short a man can be, especially an old man.
"Hm, explains why he's still living in this house."
"Mind blown, huh?"
She snorted, "How can an old man be the size of a little kid?" Gray laughed at her comment, however, Natsu disapproved their remarks as he flicked their foreheads. Natsu admitted his grandpa was indeed short for an elderly man, but despite his looks, he was a good man that didn't deserve to be made fun of.
"Shut up, guys. Especially you Gray, he did you favors, so you shouldn't making fun of him." Natsu pointed out. Lucy's curiosity began to grow more about the said man, wanting to meet him. Even more amazed to know that Natsu has at least one family member alive, in which she assumes.
"I want to meet him." She said with no hesitation. Noticing the nervous looks on their faces, Lucy felt offended.
"What's with your guy's troubled looks? Is there something wrong with you meeting him." Natsu scratched the back of his neck, trying to find the right words to explain it to her. Gray eyed the floor, scared to even make contact with the blonde, excusing himself by mentally noting that it was Natsu's business.
"You see Lucy, the thing about Gramps is that he can be a little weird." Gray smacked Natsu's head with a light whack with his hand, clicking his tongue at his stupidity.
"You idiot! What he meant was that you have big tits and an ass—"
"He's just a huge pervert and I don't want you to come!" Natsu covered Gray's mouth before Lucy got the wrong idea of Gray. Lucy stomped her foot on the floor, leaning towards the two boys as they leaned back.
"But I want to meet Natsu's family, so I might as well tag along. You can't make me stay here and do nothing." The two turned to share a look as if saying she had a good enough reason to come see Makarov. They sighed simultaneously and looked away from her begging face. Gray jingled his car keys in his pockets, gesturing his way to the door.
"If you say so. It's what I came here for anyways." Gray repeated his words once more, insisting that he really wants to get his task done by the day. Natsu mimicked him by mouthing gibberish words in a low voice and making his hand seem like it's talking. His actions made Gray glare at him impassively, wanting to point out his judgements of his immatureness, yet, he stopped himself from shouting at Natsu, knowing Lucy would be kicking both their ankles for starting another argument.
"Well, I hope you guys wouldn't mind if we stayed a but longer, my clothes are still in the dryer." She said. The boys couldn't even say anything since she walked away to Natsu's laundry room. They later conclude how she likes having things go her way.
An hour later of waiting, they came upon a little issue. An issue that once again Gray has noted saying that Natsu and Lucy argued over little nothings. In which this case, they argued over the passenger seat. He stood there, awkwardly watching them reason why they should sit on the passenger seat.
"Natsu, I reached the car first, which means I sit in the front." Lucy glared at Natsu. Gray stifled a laugh at her reason, not wanting to be heard of making fun of her.
"Fool, I came here first. Isn't that right Gray?" Natsu turned to him, his friend nervously smiling.
"Don't bring Gray into this." Lucy said, which Gray had to thank her for later. Natsu ran towards the car door wanting to beat her to it, however, Lucy managed to quickly notice his motives as she swiftly ran towards the car door as well. But as soon as they were about to pull the handle, the sound of a click prevented them from opening it.
Both of their hands clenched the handle and pulled it constantly later realizing it was locked. They turned to see Gray holding the car key out in front, his thumb hovering over the lock button on his key.
"You guys came from a cute couple to annoying little children," Gray deadpanned, not even noticing the flick of both of their eyes, "If you guys can't decide who sits in the front, then I might as well decide for you." The two gasped lightly, waiting desperately for his answer.
Unfortunately, neither one was able to sit in the front. The two ended up sitting in the back seats, as Gray left the passenger seat empty. He smirked as he started the engine, "Buckle up kids."
❖❖❖
Arriving to the city of Tenroujima Island, Lucy felt foreign to this new city. It had a lot of tall trees, pink petals flying over ahead of the freeway cars. Natsu ended his call with his grandfather, for he called to say he was on way. Natsu closed his phone, looking over to see Lucy beam at the trees.
He scooted closer to her, his breath tickling her ear, "Reminds me of when we first met." She chortled, the memories she find humorous; remembering how his rumbling stomach greedily asked for her bitten rice ball. She turned, accidentally bumping her nose with his. Subsiding the pain, he kissed the tip of her nose, her nose scrunching up as she softly grinned.
Gray adjusted his rear mirror, "I see little spoon being romantic again." Natsu flustered away from Lucy, facing the other window with a sheepish pout. Lucy crooked her head to the side to look at Gray's smug expression. She knitting her brows together, her lips pursing into a straight line.
"Little spoon?" Her tone was suspicious as she asked. Gray shrugged lightly, his way of being calm and lax throwing her off. Letting her suspicions of him slide off her shoulders, the car began to slow down. She peered over the window Natsu was staring at to see a house.
The light blue paint fading away into a light grayish blue color, chips of paint falling off the walls. It seems so be old, however managed to stand tall. A flower arch and a flower garden completed the frontal look of the house. The three walked under the arch watching the bees fly and buzz by.
Suddenly the sprinklers turned on spraying the garden lightly. Natsu knocked lightly on the white shabby door light chips of paint falling off as he knocked. His grandfather's mailbox seemed to be full of unread mail, questioning if he was even here. He heard the click of the door knob, the door slowly creaking to open a short man.
"Why isn't it great to see my grandson! I see you've brought some friends with you," The man's raspy voice held such joy, "Please come in, make yourself at home." They entered the house, greeting Makarov with thanks. Lucy looked at the frames hung on the walls, most of them were pictures of Natsu as a child with other children. She laughed amusingly to find Levy and Erza on there, their child selves being adorable.
"Sorry about the mess, I was just cleaning up." Makarov walked to grab his tea tray set, carefully carrying it to the kitchen counter. Natsu grabbed it and nodded for permission to put it away for him.
Makarov sat down on the sofa across from Lucy and Gray his eyes being in interest of Lucy, "And who might this gorgeous woman be," The old man acknowledged her presence, "Is this your girlfriend Gray?" Gray choked on his own saliva, coughing severely while Lucy sat there, smiling sheepishly at the elder.
"You old geezer, she belongs to Natsu." The room became silent, the sounds of the sprinklers outside only being heard. Natsu came back from the kitchen, feeling odd about the sudden change of atmosphere. Makarov interrupted the silent tension with loud coughs of laughter. His tiny fists pounding his chest.
Natsu hurried his way to Makarov, "Woah, what the heck!" He worried as he eyed the two as if asking what was wrong with him.
"Natsu—has a girlfriend!" He said between laughs his palm slapping his knee constantly. Gray catching on with his contagious laugh joined in. Natsu hurled himself at Gray and tugged at his face. Lucy pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head, whispering curses to herself.
"Yes, I'm his girlfriend. I don't see the problem with that." Lucy sighed heavily, a bit offended by it, although Natsu should be more offended. Makarov waved his hand near his eyes to blow away his tears as Gray rasped out coughs and laughs as Natsu sat his weight on his chest.
"I'm sorry, it's just, it surprised me so much that it was funny," His last tear wiped away from his finger, "Please, tell me the name of such a beautiful woman." Natsu swerved his head to glare precariously at the old man, knowing he warned Lucy that he was a suggestive person when he saw a pretty female.
"My name is Lucy Heartifilia, pleased to meet you Mr. Dragneel." Lucy bowed her head to him. Makarov gaped his mouth open to say something but closed it. Natsu stood up to dust his hands and plopped himself down next to Lucy.
"I'm so proud of you Natsu. You have such a wonderful woman with great manners. You should learn from her someday." Makarov winked at the lovely couple.
"Why would I need manners for?" Natsu retorted as Lucy spank his nape for his disrespect to his grandfather. He winced slightly at the stinging pain, rubbing away the red mark on the back of his neck.
"You really do need manners." Lucy argued, her elbow digging into his side. Makarov let out a small chuckle at the couple. After hours of catching up on things and describing their moments together being together, Makarov decided it was time for them to leave.
"Well, it's almost 5:00 PM, why don't you youngsters go 'head on home. Natsu, the rent money is upstairs, I hope you don't mind getting it for yourself for me," Natsu nodded and hurried his way upstairs, "Gray, please help Natsu, sometimes he can be so dumb that he can't find his way around the house." Gray snickered and followed behind Natsu.
Lucy sat up to shake Makarov's hand, "It was really nice to talk to you Mr. Dragneel. I hope we can talk again sometime." Makarov pushed away her hand and shook his head.
"Please Lucy, just call me Makarov. And don't call me Mr. Dragneel. I'm not even a Dragneel myself." He let out a hearty snort, confusing Lucy.
"I thought you were Natsu's grandfather?"
"I am, but not biologically. I'm his adoptive grandfather." Clearing the air, Lucy let out an understanding gasp, everything making sense to her.
"My real surname is Dreyar. I assume you heard of Laxus Dreyar?"
"Yeah, he's a teacher at Fairy Tail." Lucy marveled. Later her smile fading into a small frown.
"So I guess it does mean that Natsu has no family left." Her hand clenching into a tight fist. Makarov placed a warm hand in hers, his sad smile assuring her.
"No my dear, he does have family."
"What do you mean?"
"He has you, me, Gray, and all of his other friends." He motioned his hands to the old pictures frames on the walls, a group photo showing little Natsu and his friends smiling.
"You my dear, however, is more than just family," He patted her hand lightly, "You are his home. You are the one person he needs to hang onto and the one person he will do anything for. You are the definition of his happiness. When I see him smile, his brightness shines only for you, my darling. He smiles because of you and for that I thank you for seeking the lightness in that boy. He's changed ever since the past few years, and yet, I've never seen him beam. He's lived in the darkest of corners for too long that no one has never dared to reach a hand out for him."
Lucy's tears fall onto the knuckles of the kind man, however, her weeps being sad than being happy, "What happens when I'm gone? Will he still smile for me?" Makarov stood silent for a minute, reading into the sad eyes of the girl who captured the heart of his grandson. He placed her hand on her heart, nodding reassuringly.
"He'll find a way to come back home."
[A/N] I updated on the first day of Spring, see what I did there?
Find out what happens next on the next chapter, Chapter Thirteen: Learning From Her