Back to the Start(nalu)

35- Past Resurfacing

"Thanks for your help!"

I grimace at the table.

So cheery. So happy...so naive.

I hate who I was.

"Fairy Tail! I've always wanted to join!"

My teeth clench and my grip tightens on the glass of water I've been holding on to for the past five minutes.

My eyebrows drop into a glare.

Natsu Dragneel.

"I was wrong back then. Lucy."

What is with him? Why does it matter so much now when back then I was rejected.

He doesn't even know me.

Maybe he feels guilty...

Pathetic.

Only the weak mull over such feelings. There's no reason to think about how others are affected when the real person you should be worried about is yourself.

He shouldn't feel guilty over me.

I'm doing fine here.

My fingers turn white as they grasp tightly onto the glass, my thoughts racing through my head as my anger spikes.

Why did he have to show up? I never thought I'd see his face again after that day...I had moved on from it.

Now he's back here trying to stir up old memories when I'm doing fine!

The glass in my hand shatters, water spilling over the table and onto the floor. The people hanging out around me glance my way, but they all look away after their curiosity has been soothed.

I look back at the table and grimace as blood seeps from a wide cut on my hand.

"Dammit."

I whisper harshly under my breath.

I hate this. I feel so out of control letting my anger run free like this. I need to keep my emotions in check. I didn't spend the last three years pushing them away for nothing.

Why does he make me so angry?

Blood drips into the spilling water and I sigh.

Enough, Lucy.

I carefully push all of the pieces of glass into a pile.

"So, what did you find out on your little solo mission, Lulu?"

Jay appears beside me, putting emphasis on the word solo. I can hear a slight tenseness behind his cheery tone, something I can easily pick up on after almost three years.

I don't look away from the task in front of me, keeping my gaze away from his.

"I told you not to call me that."

"And yet I never stop. Maybe you should just stop trying?"

I sigh before standing up with all of the broken pieces and walking to the trash.

"Every time you call me that I tell you not to call me that. Don't you think it's getting a little old?"

Jay follows right beside me, his hands raising up to settle on the back of his head as we walk.

"I consider it as our little routine."

"I'd rather it not be."

He puts a hand to his heart mockingly.

"So cold."

His hand drops and he raises an eyebrow at me.

"Seriously, though, what's up with you today?"