The Flat Friends (ROOM MATES BOOK 2)

Chapter 17 - the world as we know it

First things first, how incredible is that fan art? I love it so much LeonS-7 is amazing it's unreAL.
Anyway!
Enjoy the chapter!

-♡-

"The thing is, I'm Natsu. Your Natsu."

He'd said it so calmly. So calmly that any intention of Lucy taking his words as joke and bursting out into laughter vanished. He was serious. So serious... But there was no way. She was dumfounded, shocked, frozen in place - her eyes on him.

"W-Wha-" She spluttered, unable to even form words, brain spinning. Did he mean her Natsu... like... her Natsu? The one she had lived the past two years with? Fallen in love with? Graduated with? It made no sense.

"I know, you probably don't believe me..." He continued, his gaze didn't once move from hers - no matter how much he could see she was panicking inside whilst taking it all in. It wasn't everyday you found something like this out... but it also wasn't everyday you were sent back in time (or wherever she was) to a place where everything is the same but so so different. "But I need you to listen."

"I-Natsu..."

"I don't know how much I'll be able to say before this whole thing restarts again, but I have to explain everything to you." He said with a stern look on his face, but the softness in his eyes helped her calm down and somewhat collected her whizzing thoughts.

"W-wait. You say you're my Natsu?" She stuttered, finally forming the sentence she'd been trying for the past few minutes. "How can you be my Natsu... you haven't shown any signs... or or-"

"I couldn't!"

"But when I showed you the picture y-you-"

"I had to pretend." He took in a shakey breath and she noticed the fragility in his tone. "I couldn't bare for it to restart again."

"What about when I told you everything? Y-you laughed and-"

She stopped in her sentence. Her brain slowing down from its spinning. She was taking it in. It was almost starting to make sense. Whatever sense could be made of this whole situation anyway. Only now she'd noticed the little moments where Natsu would slip - all those times she'd just brush it off or totally not acknowledge it - but... now she could see. He'd been giving her hints, little subliminal messages that screamed I am Natsu! but she was so blind to it.

"How can I be sure?" She looked up to him; he was sat patiently, giving her time to let everything soak in. "I mean, of course I believe you - how can I not? It's just..."

She trailed off.

"...Sometimes I don't know if I'm going mad."

She sighed, brushing a free hand through her hair and tucking a strand behind her ear.

"I mean think about it, this whole situation is crazy." She continued. "Its like something you'd read in a book or something, like magic." She felt herself laugh a little, laugh at the absurdity.

"You're not going insane Luce. Trust me." Natsu began, squeezing her other hand that lay in his, gently. "But you have no idea..." There was a pause, the boy taking in another shakey breath as if to align his thoughts again and compose himself. "You have no idea what's really going on."

He moved his hand from hers, reaching into his jacket (thrown on during the rush of escaping Erza) to pull out something small and white.

"Look at this."