"So, why the hell are we at a swimming pool?" A random boxer asked, trying his best to smile, not exactly hiding back the cringe.

Gildarts laughed, ruffling the young mans' hair. "Since I know you boys get up early, I closed the gym today and put a sign on it to come here instead."

"Yeah, we got that, that's why we're here."

The gym owner spun around, eyeing the cocky bastard who muttered under his breath. "Gimme one hundred damn pushups."

The guy didn't bother putting up a fight; dropped to his arms and swore to himself to forget keeping his mouth shut.

Natsu shrugged his shoulders, wishing they'd fasten the pace.

"Look, we already know you're fired up, don't be in such a rush." A sloppy feminine voice perked from the side.

The boxer glanced to the dirty, small bleachers to see none other than the owner's daughter, voluptuous brown bed hair bouncing with curls over her bare shoulders, her sleeveless shirt managing to cover the one thing it has to do. Her burgundy eyes were sharper, but fogged from another usual hungover. "Says the one drunk at six in the fuckin' morning." Natsu shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Don't bash on my lil' girl, Natsu. That's an extra ten laps you'll be swimming," Gildarts clapped back, his eyebrows narrowing towards the pinkette.

Natsu showed a smug grin, "You say that 'cause you know I can handle it."

"Don't make me call up Erza to kick your ass."

"Cana, are you just saying that 'cause you can't? Probably too sore from Bacchus hitting it from beh-"

"Okay, everybody shut the fuck up right now and give me five laps as a warmup!" Gildarts yelled, cutting off the boxer's intended insult and coldly glared.

Natsu laughed as he was first to dive into the pool, purposefully splashing up water in his trainer's direction, already anticipating another scolding when he'd come back up to the surface.

"You owe me more training at the gym today!"

"I'll go later, don't worry ol' fart."

"Shut the fuck up, kid!"

__________ ∙∘✧❀✧∘∙__________

The next few days went by smoothly for the most part, except for two things according to Lucy.

First, the hickey on her neck was still visible, so she still had to use a full coverage concealer. And secondly, she was still under the waters for rent,or more to be in fact, again. She was still searching for a well-paying job by the hour, and she was becoming desperate. She'd only been here for about a month now, and already she was sinking.

Not like her father would send her any assistance to his runaway daughter, yet to be found. Maybe he wasn't looking for a trace, too disappointed and embarrassed to have a misbehaved, adventurous child who wanted to stand for her own ground, it'd ruin his reputation as a powerful man not containing his own daughter.

Lucy uncomfortably shifted in her stance, her fingers touching the side of her well-concealed spot on her neck. She hadn't heard a word from Loke since their last meeting, and she couldn't tell whether to be in peace or be worried if she was still under his radar.

"Hey, you seem kinda spaced-out, you okay?"

She smiled at the familiar voice snapping her from her worried thoughts. "Ua luhi wau, but nothing to worry about."

"How can I not worry if I don't know what you just said?"

A small smile flashed for a second on her lips as she replied, "It means I'm tired, that's all."

Natsu gave her a concerned look, noticing her fingers hovering around her neck often this early morning while making his usual drink. He saw that either the spot had quickly healed, or she used some sort of makeup to cover it up.

He wasn't stupid. He'd learned from Lisanna's tactics to use against him, and luckily having an untruthful girlfriend paid off for once.

Natsu watched her, not giving a damn that she fully knew he was.

"Is there a reason why your hair's soaked?"

"Yeah, we just went to the pool to do trainin' today." He ran a hand through his dampened hair, luckily having time to wash it after his lengthy workout Gildarts "punished" him with after almost roasting Cana in front of the boys.

"Olu'olu... Ah, sorry, I meant to say that's nice."

"Juvia loves swimming!" The feminine voice called from the side, earning a chuckle from both Natsu and Lucy.

"So..." Natsu started, taking a pause and let his eyes wonder anywhere else from her face, "what are you doin' today?"

Lucy almost wanted to question why he was still here. He'd gotten his drink, fended her another quarter, which she tried to measly pry off from keeping, and still stood at the front where she was working for another few hours. His question reminded her for a moment of scramming online to find a job, more willingly at nighttime so she could catch a break during the day between working at the café.

She decided to keep it on the low for now, nobody should worry about her own sakes.

"Nothing really, just..just business."

Natsu's face dropped. "Okay, so what do you do on your own time outside working here? Y'know what I do."

Her fingers pressed uncomfortably against the counter. She had aspirations, but there wasn't anything she could do to make it happen.

Natsu patiently waited, noticing her mind heavily occupied from her silence. Just what was going through her thoughts?

"I know it's stupid...but I've always wanted to publish a book."

His eyebrows rose, pausing in the midst of taking a sip of coffee. "You like to write?"

Lucy smiled and nodded, feeling a warmth in her chest from his interest. "I love it, I've written a lot, it just never gets out there, you know? And also my fath-" She cut off instantly, accidentally letting more slip out than anticipated. Her teeth sunk into the inside of her cheek harshly, focusing on the pain more than his stern gaze she could barely meet.

"Your father? What, did he not like reading or somethin'?" Natsu casually joked, trying to steer away her awkward silence into her enchanting laughter he's heard over time.

He stopped when she wasn't budging.

"Could we save this topic for later? I don't think I should t-talk about it right now," Lucy lowly whispered, trying her best to not stumble on her own words.

She was pathetic at some times, and talking about her father was one of the reasons why.

Her eyes widened when he'd taken her shaking hands in his, feeling his warmth radiating against her skin. "Of course," he reassured, his voice melting like soothe butter to her ears. A faint pinky blush crossed the bridge of his nose as he continued to say, "I was actually wondering if you wanted to do somethin' later, since y'know, Bickslow kind of...really fucked up my plans last time."

Lucy laughed at his blunt honesty, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, "It wasn't that bad, he can act like a jerk but he's quite funny in his own way."

"Oh, so now he's trying to steal my new friend. Great." Natsu crossed his arms and rolled his eyes , clearly not hiding the bitterness to his tone.

"Well, maybe he's learning from you."

"What do you mean by that?"

Lucy puckered her lips, "Didn't I meet Gray before you?"

Natsu's forest green eyes met her amber ones, seeing how they sparkled with more than having the upper hand, not quite having the ability to decipher what exactly. She was a mystery to him, and he wanted to learn who she was outside this little café, what her passions were, what her family was like-

He was incredibly interested in just knowing her.

And he didn't believe anyone else showed that amount of new blossoming friendship like them.

"So you're admitting that I'm better than Gray by stealing you?" He smirked, turning the tides to see her now blushing while biting her lip. "That's something I'll brag 'bout to him for years."

"Don't you have other things to do during the day before our plans?"

"I could ask the same thing, Luce."

They smiled at each other, completely tuned from the outside world revolving around them. The boxer took his last sip from his empty cup, raised his hand and shot it towards the trash can behind the counter. Lucy rolled her eyes as he flicked his wrist, holding it up for show. "Buckets all day."

"I could argue that," Lucy pursed her lips into a sneaky smile, reminding both of them of only a few days ago.

"Yeah, yeah, that's whatever." Natsu pretended to think nothing of it.

"Okay, I'll let you slide this once," Lucy said, but continued with another thought, "what do you feel like doing tonight?"

"I've got some shopping to do with Lis today, I promised her since I've been gone training too long, even though I don't understand 'cause she pulls the same shit on me," Natsu rambled, forgetting that this wasn't Gray he was used to letting hell out from off his chest.

"E kala mai ia'u, I don't want you and your girlfriend to be on bad terms, you should spend that time with her instead."

Natsu paused, her words striking an awkward chord in his chest. "No, I'll have time. It'll just be late, but I know you're one to stay up late." He winked with his signature wide grin.

Lucy rolled her eyes, pushing his face away from leaning over the counter with her pointer finger. "I'm sure my idea of late is past ka wā e moe ai for you."

Well that didn't sound good, from seeing her secretive bite behind that smile knowing she got him. "Luce, tell me what that means, I'm only decently intelligent in the English language."

"It means bedtime," she laughed.

"You're a weirdo, what could you possibly stay up that late for?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Guess that's for you to find out."

"Sounds like a challenge to me that I'll take."

Before she could get another say, he'd already turned to leave, shouting he'd meet her later wherever she wanted.

Lucy couldn't stop smiling because of that idiot.

__________ ∙∘✧❀✧∘∙__________

"Oh man, I can't wait for tonight," Gray smirked, his fingers quickly tapping against the computer mouse. "Hey, there's a guy in that house in the North."

"Lets just shoot him with a sneak attack, and you're just excited to get a girl riding on your dick in the club tonight," Natsu replied, keeping his eyes locked on his computer screen. To waste some time for a while, he'd come to hang with Gray to play Fortnite, a popular game among computers right now.

"Speaking of girls," Gray snickered as he sniped the bastard on the screen, lowering the count to eighteen players left. "How are you and Lucy?"

Natsu perked up. Lucy? Wasn't he supposed to ask about Lisanna? "Oh, u-ah, she's been alright. I could tell something was on her mind today when I visited her, but we're just gonna hang out tonight."

"Tonight? Are you sure that's called hanging out? Wonder what Lisanna would think, let me just put on my thinking cap here." Gray rolled his eyes, already knowing the end result would consist of a bicker between the couple.

Natsu started to shoot like a madman on the screen, knocking out three more players. "So? I swear that bastard Loke really did something that night of my fight to her, she's my friend," He angrily muttered, not caring that his character was out in the open of the battlefield.

"One, you're going to get shot, and two, maybe you should think about it with your time with Lisanna and Lucy."

"I'm not the one at fault!" Natsu lashed out, taking a hefty breath, "Lis always hangs out with that bastard of a man-"

Gray cut him off. "Is he really a bastard? And why're you so angry, dude do you even love her anymore?"

Natsu opened his mouth to yell a crude comment back, but no words came out as Gray's question pondered in his brain. He stared at the computer screen, his hand sliding off the mouse not caring to watch his man get shot, taking fifteenth place overall of a hundred. "Of course I love 'er, I love you, Levy, man even bolts-for-brains, what's that-"

"So you love her as a friend, like one of us."

"No, damnit! Well, I-Idon't know, she's my childhood friend."

"Being a childhood friend is different than a girlfriend, I think you really outta put some thought into this." Gray sternly looked at his best friend, even if they always got into arguments, he still cared for him. They've known each other since pre-k.

Natsu slumped in his seat, and just before he could mope and slink to the ground, the doorbell rang, and they both knew who it was.

__________ ∙∘✧❀✧∘∙__________

To be quite honest, Lucy didn't expect to be out this late waiting for Natsu. She'd told Levy about going out with him late today, and the girl had screamed so loud that a customer almost dropped his coffee, scowling in irritation afterwards. Her friend listed details of "date material" which she immediately cut off, knowing that it wouldn't be appropriate to disrespect his relationship, opting for her usual sweatpants, t-shirt, dirty white vans, and messy bun.

That was the only outfit everyone saw her in anyways, besides her work clothes. Yes, she did like dressing up but there wasn't ever a reason to, right?

She'd rather wear sweats and go with the makeup-cakeup instead of wearing dressy clothes, and that's what she felt like doing tonight. Her go-to style.

Natsu had pushed her buttons a little bit saying he'd pick her up at her place, which she dodged like a curveball for the better. With the condition of the whole building, it looked rusty from the outside, and her apartment wasn't better on the inside.

Lucy rolled her sweats once, finding her hands to be shaking while she waited in front.It was pitch black outside, and only a few dim street lights were the only source of light a little bit away from the front of the building. She sighed and yanked out her messy bun to throw it up into a high-right side ponytail.

A smile grew on her face once the echoes of a motorcycle flooded the silence, quickly growing louder with the light on the front skidding around the corner. She figured he'd have a little bit of trouble finding the place, it was wedged between multiple other apartment buildings the same size, the road between having two lanes with a side lane to park.

"Hey," The boxer grinned once he came right in front of her.

"You're late, how considerate." Lucy couldn't help but tease him.

Natsu checked his phone, shaking his head. "It's a few minutes past ten, I'm sure that small difference won't be a problem for you."

She got on and took her seat behind him, wrapping her arms around him to let him know she was ready. "Still don't have a clue where you're taking me, aren't most places closed?" She questioned, but received a smile in return.

"Most of 'em, but not all."

As Natsu drove them through the dimmed empty streets, the question still pondered to her unknown knowledge. Honestly, it's not like she's visited every building around here, especially from her place being a good distance from work too.

Lucy gave Natsu a light punch to the stomach when he was going almost fifteen miles over the speed limit. "You're going to kill us both at this rate!" She screamed, pressing her body firmly against his warm back to keep the wind from whipping at her face.

The boxer laughed in response, glancing over his shoulder at her to see through her complaints, a smile still occupied her lips. "I think you're handlin' it just fine." Her fingers pried through his shirt into his skin, which he gently placed his left hand over hers in comfort. "There's nobody on these streets at night."

His hand brought Lucy a sense of safety, letting her know that her trust in him was all that mattered for the rest of the ride. She blinked a few times when he slowed down to a familiar building on a corner, trying to pinpoint how she remembered...

"This the the building where I met Gray outside of," Lucy mumbled, looking up towards the sign of the boxing gym.

Natsu swung a key from a lanyard on his finger, leading the way inside after unlocking the front door. "Well isn't that great." He couldn't help but reply with a flat tone, she'd brought up the stripper.

He flipped on one of the light switches, only the dimmed corner lights flickering on without being too bright. Lucy watched him walk around, retrieving a boxing sand bag and hanging it. "So you brought me here to watch you train?"

Natsu smirked, taking a glance at her, "No, I'm just killing two birds with one stone; trainin' while I get to know you better."

At that moment, Lucy felt her face warm up, a rosy hue rising up to her cheeks that highlighted the faint tiny freckles that coursed over the bridge of her nose as she watched him at a side angle, the dim light from the opposite side of the room to outline his shape.

She didn't notice she was biting her bottom lip after he'd stripped off his thin shirt, showing the godly muscles she'd seen online, but in person...

It was heavenly better by far.

"C'mere, I won't bite." Natsu was busily making sure he was set before setting eyes on her, noting her attention on him. "Like what you see?" His smirk grew wider.

Lucy instantly wrinkled her nose, turning her head nonchalantly, but still approached him. "You'll be getting no answers from me with that attitude," She huffed, flipping her hair.

He laughed. "This isn't an interview, calm down."

"Well it sure feels like it!"

Natsu wrapped one of his fists successfully with athletic tape, completely forgetting that he needed his hand to wrap his other one. Before he could groan, she'd grabbed the tape and started wrapping his fist, her fingers softly brushing against his hand. He watched in surprise, wondering how she was perfectly smoothing the tape over his skin, not needing any directions whatsoever.

"How do you know how to do that?" He breathed as she finished, squeezing his fist to make sure the tape would stick.

Lucy gulped. "A-ah, b-beginners luck?"

"Bullshit, there's a specific way to do it and you didn't even bat an eye to wrap my hand. I thought you said you didn't know anything about boxing." Natsu edged, referring back to when Gray had told him that "she hadn't seen a match before."

"Well..." Lucy whispered, biting her cheek to figure out anything that could be a reasonable excuse, her mind blanking when she looked into his piercing stare.

"Y'know, whatever you're hiding just makes me wonder more 'bout you, so there's no point in keeping it a secret from me," Natsu added, taking a pause before saying, "Luce."

A few moments of silence passed over, his voice sending chills down her spine.

"You mind keeping this steady?" He gestured towards the sand bag that hung between them, hiding her face as she nodded. "Sure."

Natsu took a sharp breath, then threw a few swift punches to the sides, working on quick jabs to multiple places that'd normally throw his opponent off. "So, not to sound starting off like a dick,"  he started, keeping his eyes locked in on his target. "How do you know Loke?"

Well isn't that blunt. "Just from high school," Lucy sharply replied, praying that he'd buy her response and move on.

Luck really wasn't on he side when he shot her a disapproving look, but replied in a softer tone, "you can trust me."

This isn't back at home, he's your friend. Probably your closest, even. "We met sophomore year," Lucy began, taking a deep breath as her hands held onto the bag. "Why do you want to know so bad?"

"I'm not sorry, but I'm not going to pretend that I didn't see the hickey on your neck from that bastard."

"He aha?" Lucy froze, her hand cupping the spot around her neck to see him taking a pause to glance at her, a few strands of hair sticking to his forehead. "You saw?"

"Yeah. I noticed somethin' was off the day after my fight when you walked into work, and afterwards when I bought you coffee. You kept touching your neck, and that night I saw that huge ass purple bite."

"I didn't think.."

"So tell me, the way he was tryna' grab you that night doesn't sit well with me. I'll knock his ass every time if you want me to." Natsu flashed a grin for a moment, then continued to land more powerful punches, following through instead.

"When we first met, it was just from being in the same class. He was so weird, I didn't understand at all. He was so genuine towards me, but then he'd run off and be some huge flirt with every female that walked in his way. Then in our junior year..." Lucy trailed off, hesitating.

"Junior year?" He rasped between heavy breaths, glancing between her and the sand bag.

"We dated for two years."

The punches stopped, leaving her to see him shocked frozen with wide emerald eyes. "What?"

She nodded her head, "I've watched tons of his boxing matches, I did everything I could for him to be successful, I spent so much time," her eyes began to well up and her voice quivering,  "I can't tell you how much I regret it, I lost my best friend because of him. And to think he used me that whole time for money! He's such a-a..cheating dickhead."

Natsu could barely function. Two years. She'd spent that long on someone, and he make sure to stab her right in the back. Maybe cutting ties would be better with-

"I gave him everything, no matter what anyone said. I really believed he loved me, a-and one night after he'd lost a fight, I met him of course because what girlfriend wouldn't?" Lucy continued, quickly wiping her eyes. "He said he wanted to be alone, and I understood, it was a bummer to lose. So I decided to go out shopping and got him some dinner and brand new orange boxing gloves and a two-thousand five-hundred dollar Le Marché Des Merveilles Gucci watch as a surprise, and I go to his place to find him literally fucking his ex on the couch."

Lucy was a mess falling apart, but he didn't give a damn.

Natsu extended his arms and brought her tightly to his chest the best he could, wishing that his fingers weren't taped now. Every word she said made his jaw clench, not at her, but for the bastard that called himself one of the best boxers their age. The more he imagined Loke breaking Lucy's heart over again, it was like gasoline that fueled his anger.

"A-And Ua huhū wau, he u-used me because of how rich my father is!" Lucy's voice was muffled from his body, being enveloped in his embrace. "Sorry, I said I was mad."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, everything's alright Luce," Natsu softly cooed, leaning his cheek against her bangs. "Nobody here'll do that to you...I promise."

"I wish he never came here, he still has that Gucci watch."

Natsu chuckled at her mumbling, seeing that she quickly calmed down and instead hugged him around the torso, surprisingly not minding how sweaty he currently was. "You don't need to talk to him again, if he shows up just give me the word and I'll fuck him up."

Lucy smiled brightly, slapping the palms of her hands on his chest. "I don't doubt that for a second, mahalo. Sorry for that, I kind of ruined the mood."

"It was my fault for asking in the first place, I was being a dick."

"Ke paulele nei au iā'oe."

"Want to tell me what that means?" He chuckled.

"It means I trust you."

Natsu warmly smiled, bringing his taped fists to the sides of her head, touching foreheads. "That means a lot to me." He paused for a moment, his breath hitching in his chest where her hands rested, the faintest of blushes crossing his face.

"You're a kind person, and I just don't want you to feel the same way I did," Lucy whispered, her cheeks glowing a pink hue.

In that calming silence, he made a vow to himself that he'd protect her from anything toxic, and she was that sliver of light that was starting to shape his life more than he thought.

"So, what other things would you like to know about me?" She questioned.

Lucy smiled when he tapped the sides of her head and stepped back to his side of the sand bag. "I have all night, I'd love to hear about what you want to do, what your passion is...and what you know about boxing, I haven't met a girl who's ex is a shitty boxer, clearly you're a lot smarter in that department, like wrapping my fist. Y'can fool Gray by saying you've never watched a match until now, but ya can't lie to me."

She playfully rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't you like to know."

"Not to be blunt, but it's hot."

"Natsu!"

__________ ∙∘✧❀✧∘∙__________

A.N: Thanks for being patient! Sorry I've been taking my time, it's kinda nearing my birthday on March 11th so I've been slacking off. Hoped y'all liked the update!

To be continued...

"You're right, and it's really rubbing me the wrong way." Bickslow puffed his cheeks out, something that Lucy thought was kind of adorable, considering her was an attractive man with a bit of a "bad boy" persona.

Lucy straightened her back, clapping her hands on her thighs. "Well, tell me everything from the start."

"What?" Bickslow's eyes widened, but he coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, saying, "You mean it? Nobody's really cared after...my accident."

Fight for Glory
❀ by queen_random1 ❀
comments & votes are
always more than welcome.
❤️Thank you for reading❤️