Lucy and Natsu were on the edge of a heated argument walking through Magnolia. Natsu tried his hardest to back out of it, but Lucy didn't let him.
"Natsu, just tell me why! Look at me!" Lucy grabbed Natsu's arm but he tried yanking himself away, making the both of them fall into the grass. "Just tell me why." She whispered, her hair falling around her face as she looked down at Natsu, their noses inches apart.
"I just- I can't Lucy." Natsu sighed.
Lucy nodded slowly and tears appeared in her eyes as she pushed herself away from him. "Fine. Nevermind." She stood and hurried away towards her house while Natsu watched her go.
I am an idiot, he thought to himself. And she deserves so much better. Natsu finally stood as the sun fell behind the buildings and headed home.
The next morning, Natsu bumped into Levy as she was walking away from the guild. "Oh, Natsu! Have you seen Lucy?"
Natsu shook his head slowly. "She's probably back at her house." He hoped Levy wouldn't automatically know that he'd screwed everything up again, but she did.
"You two had a fight?" She asked. Her hazel eyes bored into his so he looked at the ground and nodded again.
She left without more questions and Natsu continued to the guild where he was almost run over by Jet and Droy hurrying after Levy. Right behind them was Gajeel, newly made Levy's boyfriend, but he stopped when he spotted Natsu.
"Tch. They act like Levy can't go anywhere on her own."
"How do you do it?" Gajeel raised his eyebrow in confusion so Natsu went on. "How can you stay with Levy? She's so nice and smart and caring, so much better than you and-"
"Is there a point to all this, Salamander?" Gajeel said through clenched teeth. "Or do I have to shut you up manually."
"How can you stay with her when she's better than you?"
Gajeel waited a moment before bringing down his hand on Natsu's head half heartedly. "I stick with Shrimp because there is something I know I can do for her. I know that no one would do more to protect her than I would. So I'm going to stick by her side until I find someone who can do that better than I can."
Natsu thought about that for a moment while Gray came in and glanced between them.
"You two ready to fight?" He asked excitedly.
Juvia seemed to pop out if nowhere as Gray pulled off his shirt and tossed it conveniently into her arms. Natsu pulled Gajeel's arm off him and shook his head.
"No, I have to go find Lucy."
Levy and Lucy were walking quietly towards the guild when Natsu ran up and tackled Lucy. Levy giggled and kept walking, leaving the two lying in the grass.
"What are you-" Natsu silenced her with a kiss.
When he pulled away, he smiled down at her. "Yes, Lucy, I'd like to go on that date with you."
Lucy's face split into a smile before it turned into a scowl. "What makes you think the offer is still open?"
"Come on, who else would you ask?"
"Gray."
"You want to risk that with Juvia?"
"Freed then."
"Pretty sure everyone knows you're not the blonde he's interested in."
Lucy was struggled to keep her scowl on now. "What about Jet?"
"Over me? You'd never!"
She finally gave up and cracked a smile. "Alright. But what made you change your mind?"
Natsu stood and pulled Lucy up. "Gajeel actually." He stuck out his arm for her to loop her through. "Come on, let's go on that date."
