Welcome to the Mafia Family

Chapter 18 - Tell me what happened

After I changed into my long pink pyjamas, I walked out of Natsu's bedroom and found Natsu sitting on his lounge. He noticed me and gave me a smile. I walked over to him and saw he had bowls of snacks in front of him on the coffee table. "Come sit next to me and tell me what happened" he said as he patted the space beside him. I sat next to him and then Happy jumped onto my lap. He curled up into a ball and fell asleep.

"Well, this might sound stupid but Laxus and I were arguing about me dating" I said while stroking Happy's back. "Wait, you've got a boyfriend? Please tell me it's not Ice Stripper!" Natsu asked with worry. "What? No! No, I don't have a boyfriend" I replied and he sighed in relief. "Laxus just thinks he has a say in who I want to date because he's my big brother. Every guy who shows even a sliver of interest in me, Laxus will scare away in a heartbeat" I said. "Oh shit" I heard Natsu mumble. "Anyway, he blew up at me because he found out I have your phone number" I said and he raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" he asked and I replied "yep. He was trying to delete it off my phone but I didn't let him. Luckily I didn't mention that I had Gray's as well" I said and he chuckled. "I was so fed up with his behaviour that I decided to leave and that's when I rang you" I finished the story.

Natsu stayed silent for a bit as he thought. "I think Laxus is just overwhelmed at the moment. I mean think about it from his perspective. Your father is out there right now planning to take you away with his big bad mafia for unknown reasons. He's probably scared of losing you. Plus there are men out there who wouldn't hesitate to hurt innocent women like yourself. I'm sure Laxus would beat up any man who makes you cry and probably kill anyone who dares to hurt his dear little sister" he said. I looked at him with my eyes wide.

"I never thought about it like that" I said while looking down at my hands. I didn't think about how much pressure Laxus was under. He may have been over the top sometimes but deep down he was just looking out for me. I felt bad for how I acted.

Natsu stayed quiet the whole time while I processed everything. He was the last person I expect this kind of response from. "I can't believe you said something smart" I said. "Hey I can be smart!" he complained and I laughed. "There's that smile" he chuckled and I looked at him in shock. "This is the first time you've smiled since you got here after your fight with Laxus" he explained. "Laxus and I barely fight. We do have arguments from time to time but rarely anything this big" I replied. "Maybe a bit of time apart after this fight might be good. You're always welcome here if you need a place to stay" he said and I smiled. "Thanks, that means a lot" I replied and he smiled back.

I remembered I needed to talk to him about the call I got from Jason. "Oh I almost forgot, before Laxus and I had our fight I was going to call you about something" I said and he put his arm on top of the lounge and rested his head on his closed hand. "I'm listening" he said with interest. "Earlier today, I got a call from Jason. He wants me to go to a press only opening in a few days for the unveiling of Magnolia's new Aquarium and write an article on it. I wanted to ask you if it is ok for me to go the press only opening?" I asked.

He took a moment to think about it. "Where is it?" he asked. "Inside the Aquarium" I replied and then he continued to think. "Ok you can go" he finally said and I smiled brightly. "As long as you bring me" he added and my smiled faded. "Huh?" I said, while tilting my head to the side a bit. "While Raven Tail is still after you, you need to bring someone to protect you so I'm coming with you" he explained. "That makes sense, but couldn't you have someone else go with me?" I asked. "You don't like my company?" he asked with a hurtful expression. "That's not what I meant. I mean, you have a company and mafia to run. Are you able to take some time away from that for a little press conference?" I asked. I didn't want to be an inconvenience to him. "I can spare some time for it plus I'm interested in see how you work" he replied. "Alright then" I said.

"So, if we're finished with business then how about we watch a movie before going to bed? You can choose" he suggested as he turned on the TV. Now the snacks made sense, he had this planned beforehand. "Ok" I said with a smile and then he handed me the remote. I flicked through movies he had digitally downloaded and stopped at an action movie that I thought we would both like. "Oo I like this one" Natsu said as he grabbed a large bowl of chips and put it on his lap. I grabbed a chip from his bowl and got comfy as the movie started. Halfway through the movie I became tired and slowly fell asleep.