Sweetheart

37

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.