Wheels of Fire

Worries from Friends

When Lucy and Edo-Natsu entered the guild hall, the last thing they expected was an uproar.

"Where were you?" half a dozen people instantly shouted, startling both of them back a step.

"Lu-chan, we were so worried."

The blonde blinked in surprise at the tears in her best friend's eyes. "Levy?"

Then a cold hand thumped on her shoulder, and blue-gray eyes peered way too closely into her face. "Are you safe? Are you hurt? Were you attacked?"

"What? N-No! And Gray, if you're going to get this close, put some clothes on."

Erza stomped forward. "Who kidnapped you?"

Lucy shouted in frustration. "No one kidnapped me. I was never in trouble. Sheesh, can't a girl go on a little roadtrip without the whole world going crazy?"

"Roadtrip?" Gray asked, and he glared at the timid pink-haired boy now cowering behind Lucy's shoulder.

"We didn't know you were leaving," Levy said, sniffling in relief. "I went over to your house, and it was empty. No one knew anything, not even your landlady. There was no note that you had gone, or when you'd be back. The train station had no record of you leaving, and Mira said you hadn't taken a mission. We had no clue what happened to you."

Erza nodded sternly. "If it had just been you, it would be no problem, but Fireball was missing too. We got worried, since we need to keep him safe. Where did you two go?"

"Well, I..." Lucy glanced back to Edo-Natsu, who shivered against her. His huge eyes gazed up into her face, and both blushed slightly. "I didn't plan to be gone all night," she muttered. "It was supposed to just be for a few hours, but ... well ... we lost track of time. I'm really sorry."

Gray glared suspiciously between Lucy and Edo-Natsu. As the worries faded and Lucy began telling everyone about the car their Edolas driver had built, Gray heard from her story many details, and many things left unsaid. He also noticed that although the skittish boy clung to Lucy like normal, there was something more to the way he touched her.

"You built a car?" Macao cried out.

Elfman beamed. "Cars are manly!"

"Show us!" many of the men shouted eagerly.

Edo-Natsu shrank under their boisterous enthusiasm. "P-Princess?" he squeaked.

Lucy patted his thigh ... a little too high up for Gray's taste. "It's fine, they're just amazed that you really are good with automobiles. I'll come with you. Erza, you drive, right? You should see this. Levy-chan?"

"No thanks," she waved off, making a sour face. "I don't understand machines at all."

Edo-Natsu laughed lightly. "That's totally opposite to my Levy."

Lucy and Edo-Natsu led quite a crowd out to where they parked in front of the Fairy Tail guild hall. Gray was admittedly curious since he liked driving cars and motorcycles, but he took the emptiness to come up to Levy.

"Did you notice about the two of them?"

She looked up from a thick book in a foreign language. "Notice what?"

"The way they look at each other now."

Levy smiled mischievously. "Oh Gray, don't tell me you're jealous." She glanced over his shoulder. "Juvia's glaring and muttered some evil curse about love rivals."

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't care. I'm not jealous, either. I'm worried about Lucy. Edo-Natsu is annoying, but he's a likable guy. I think Lucy is in love with him, and it's definitely mutual. This weekend trip ... there's something she's not telling us. For one, why were they gone all night? Where did they stay? Why the hell is Lucy limping?"