Blossom

Party Crasher pt.2

"Uh...." Natsu honestly didn't want to answer his phone, he'd only just got here, and he had no idea what to expect, "Your mom is calling me, Luce."

"Eh?" Lucy glanced at his phone, "You... you guys have each other's numbers..?"

"Oh, yeah. It just made things easier than emailing. But do you think I should answer?"

"Uh... Yeah, yeah go ahead."

He didn't leave the table as he answered, using his Bluetooth earbuds so he didn't have to hold his phone up to his ear. "Yo?"

"Natsu! How are you?"

"I'm... Alright."

"That's good... I was going to wait until I heard from Lucy, but she's out with her friends tonight, and I just couldn't wait! Did she tell you the news?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm with her right now."

"...You're with her?"

"Yeah-"

"Oh! Tell her I said hi!"

Natsu let out a quiet chuckle and turned to Lucy, "She said hi, Luce."

"Uh..." She was still struggling to process the fact that those two have each other's numbers, and her cheeks grew rosey from the way everyone was clearly invested in Natsu's phone call right now.

"Anywho, could you tell me the status of our meeting? Are you two able to make it tomorrow?"

"Uh..." He glanced at Lucy, and she seemed rather lost in thought, so he said the first thing he could think of, "Well, I'll make it for sure, I'm off tomorrow."

"Oh, okay, great. Hopefully Jude can make it, I know the two of you got off on the wrong foot..."

Jude... Natsu felt like if he never spoke to that man again, it'd be too soon. But he is the grandfather of his kid, so it's only fair that he gives him a chance. "Yeah, heh..."

"You're a doll, dear. See you tomorrow!"

"Uh, yeah, see you..." He released a deep sigh the second she hung up, "Well, I guess I'm seeing your parents tomorrow."

"Huh?" Lucy was finally able to process what he said, "Oh shoot, right..."

"Aw, you're meeting with her parents? How intimate!" The world's biggest instigator, Mirajane, gushed.

"Last time we were all in the same room, me and my dad got in a really bad argument. Also, I'm pretty sure he doesn't like Natsu," Lucy hated being a downer like this, but she couldn't help it, "Realistically speaking, it probably won't go well. I just wanna get this over with."

Natsu rested his hand on her head, trying to get her to feel better. "Stop stressing so much..."

"That's easier said than done..."

Even so, the headpats really seemed to be helping to sooth the poor girl's worried mind.

-

"I'm... so... sleepy..." Lucy groaned as she squirmed in her seat, "You should've just told my mom no..."

"I could always drop you off at your apartment," Natsu tried not to look at her sad face and kept his eyes on the road. He actually was a little excited to see what Layla might've found for them, they'll have to live together eventually anyways.

"I'm not leaving you alone with my parents."

"Oh..." Natsu couldn't help but feel guilty. Lucy's always in some sort of discomfort, and she seems much more reluctant to take these steps forward compared to him.