The Flat Friends (ROOM MATES BOOK 2)

Chapter 6 - investigations

The next time Lucy saw Natsu, was a few loops later.

She'd spent her time before that experimenting, learning and finding out new things.

The first thing she tried was going up to the schools roof after meeting Mira. It was terrifiying at first, but as she stood at the edge of the building, body shaking and adrenaline brewing, she trusted that it would restart, and as her foot left the edge, it did - and she found herself right at the start in Mavis' arms after travelling, what felt like 100mph, straight off a building.

The next few loops were similar - testing things to see what would cause restarts and what wouldn't; ways she could get a quick escape if she needed to start again. One time she ran into the cafeteria and screamed out something absurd, another time she told Mira about the time loops, just to see if it restarted the same. The next thing Lucy did was break into Natsu's car and jump it to a start - before she could even lift the hand break her head was throbbing and her vision doubled, readying for a restart.

At one point, the blonde stopped in her tracks to the elevator (after the usual tour with Mira) when she noticed her stomach grumble loudly.

She thought about how long had it been since she ate? Hours? Days? She had no sense of time anymore.

The blonde had concluded she couldnt do anything she wouldnt normally, or a restart would trigger. Anything that was slightly out of her usual character - the loop somehow knew and a restart would happen. But then she thought about the usual thing such as hunger, bodily needs (like needing the toilet) and her hygiene still carried on deteriorating, what else would not be affected by the time loops?

The next thing she tried to learn were things she could get away with - it always seemed her clothes would reset at the beginning of a loops restart, but if her hunger still diminished, and her hair dirtied after a day without a shower, what else would restart with no effect?

The first thing the girl tried was drawing all over arm. After her brief introduction with Natsu and his timid self, she'd ran to the kitchen, grabbed marker pen from a drawer and ran to the bathroom for a doodle session. She smiled as the pen glided across her skin, leaving behind black trails of shapes, scribbles and nothing in paticular - she nearly found herself laughing at how stupid she looked, at how stupid she was acting - but she managed to walk out if the bathroom with a straight face.

If the fact black was scribbled all over her arm didn't cause a resart when Natsu saw it, she had to do the next quickest thing - and seen as Natsu was in the room, he would be her trigger.

As she ran up to Natsu and his face distorted into that of a confused, scared and, as she got closer, a terrified little boy - Lucy only found herself laughing. The next thing she did was latch her lips to his and wait for a restart.

In less than 30 seconds, but what felt like a little longer due to the harsh throbbing she always felt in her head, she was back in Mavis' arms, being squeezed across her chest. After the usual small talk, Lucy excused herself to the bathroom and tugged the sleeve of her cardigan off so fast she nearly tripped right back down the stair case. Her lips tilted into a wide grin as she locked the bathroom door and looked back down at her arm.

It was covered in doodles.

Now Lucy knew her body didn't 'restart', she thought about what else didn't restart. Her belongings? No, they always seemed to end up right back in her suitcase at Mavis and Zeref's house. What about her accessories? No, once again, her clothes always went back to their original on the first day. The blonde held her chin in her hand as she thought hard, but no more ideas came to mind.

A knocking on the bathroom door jolted Lucy to reality and a voice echoed from the other side.

"You better go Lucy, you don't want to be late on your first day." It was Zeref, for a moment she nearly forgot where she was.

With that, Lucy hopped up, said her goodbyes and headed to University for another go of the time loop. Maybe some more things would come to mind as she lived out the day.

When Lucy later found herself in the elevator, heading to her dorm room with key in hand, she startled herself at the reflection in its mirror. Her hair was dirty, eyes sunken with dark circles buried beneath them; she looked tired and restless - how long had it been since she rested? Her stomach grumbled again, reminding her she still hadn't ate. She really needed to pull herself together and actually start trying to figure out how to stop this. Whatever 'this' was.

Lucy introduced herself to Natsu, and despite his endless stuttering and apologies, she managed to find comfort in his presence; whether it was simply the butterflies in her stomach or just the light blush that dusted his face. She was back at feeling 'familiar' and it seemed she liked the feeling - it was all she had.

The two had a meal - and by meal, it meant she ordered takeout and offered Natsu some, he apologised profusely whilst sliding slice after slice of pizza from the box. Later, Lucy had taken a shower, freshened up and found herself in her bedroom, totally and utterly exhausted.

And thats when she began to cry.

She closed her door, pressing her back against the hard wood and sliding to the floor as the tears brimmed her eyes. She let out a quiet sob when her butt hit the floor, the soft carpet cushioning her landing.

All this drama had got to her, and now, her mental bottle had reached it's brim, the cap had popped and she could no longer hold her feelings in. The crown of Lucy's head touched the back of the door as she leaned back, the tears streaming down her cheeks. She sniffeled quietley, hoping to God Natsu wouldn't hear.

The thought of Natsu only made her hurt more, only made her cry more. Where was he right now? What happened after she fainted? Did he really disappear with the rest of all her friends? Was everything she lived that far completley erased, leaving no reason for her to have lived it in the first place? If he was around, was he looking for her too? Was he thinking about her?

The blonde felt there was no way life could possibly get worse for her. She'd lost everything she ever loved and now she just felt empty, alone and dead inside.

And thats when her only means of hope, fluttered to the floor infront of her.

-♡-

It's the first of May and I have my GCSE's in 17 days WOOOOO gotta love life and responsibilities!1!!1

Aaaanyway, hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter

Just wondering, do you guys rather more updates with shorter chapters, or longer chapters but less regular updating? Please comment and let me know :)

Things are going to get intresting very soon ;)