#tbfb

One of her train of thoughts was that of Friday night going to Natsu’s place for dinner. It had been such a great evening with him and she admitted to herself how much she missed him and what an idiot she was for severing ties with him for Sting’s sake.

But then things got odd after she told him the news.

First it was the outburst when she told him it wasn’t Sting’s, he almost went on a rampage as something you’d expect Natsu to do but then when she told him she had been inseminated things became weird. She did have in mind of how he would react but she was thrown off by a completely different response. He didn’t even let time pass before he asked her a question about when she confirmed her pregnancy.

Then he got tense, Lucy could see it as much as he tried to hide it. Maybe he heard something bad of inseminations and asked questions immediately. Afterwards he congratulated her and they spent the rest of the evening not bringing up the subject again.

Perhaps next time she would see him they could talk about it. Besides that subject making the atmosphere awkward they hadn’t seen each other in so long, there was still weird tension between them. It’s something she wants to discard and get things back to how it was before.

She picked up her phone and noticed it was close to lunch which her tummy also clarified for her. She opened up her messages and let her fingers glide to Natsu’s number and started to text.

‘Have you eaten yet?’ she texted and sent.

Her phone pinged immediately ‘Was actually about to head out for takeout’ he replied

‘Take out shmake out, come over I’ll give you real meal.’ She mocked him replying

‘*Sigh* if you insist’ he jokingly texted with an emoji.

‘I’ll see you in ten then’ she texted while rolling her eyes then set her phone next to her bed and then gently got up not to disrupt her paper monstrosity.

She slid on her sandals and glided to her kitchen putting pasta shells in a pot of water then putting it on the stove top and immediately started chopping vegetables for her easy and quick pasta dish. As she put the pot of water on the stove with the pasta inside she heard her doorbell ring along with Plue barking his head off.

She shushed the hound and opened the door to see a nonchalant Natsu. He smiled at her but her immediate reaction was worry; he looked like he hadn’t had any rest. His eyes had bags, his skin was pale as he did have very tan skin and his eyes looked dull.

Despite how he looked he pulled the largest grin he could muster for her “Hiya Luce.”

With worry in her voice she tried to hide, she smiled back and greeted him “Hey Natsu, come in I just put pasta on the stove.”

His face lit up more at the mentioning of food and quickly came in. She walked ahead of him and overheard him stop and pet Plue.

She had finished her chopping and sniffed a bit at the onion fumes, once the ingredients were all in the pan Lucy felt Natsu hover behind her. She wasn’t sure it was because he was impatient for food or… oh no.

She dropped her wooden spoon in the pan once she realised what he was up to. His fingers made contact with her ribcage and started to tickle her in spots she knew were tender.

Her laugh and squeals filled the air while he was enjoying her laugh fill his ears. She tried so hard to move from his grasp and repeatedly told him to stop between breaths but he had caged her well as this wasn’t the first time he’d tickled her.

She managed to squirm around to face him and smiled wickedly as she knew a weak spot of his. He saw the action and lifted his own hands to cover the weak spot but she was too quick. Her hands reached for his ears and relentlessly tugged as if he was a small child in need for a scolding.

He pulled back and whined like a small child “Okay! Let go! I stopped!”

She let go and grinned “Serves you right”

She forgot about the food in the pan and rushed back to it, stirring it quickly so it wouldn’t burn then put some water in and covered it.

She sighed in relief and looked to Natsu who was slightly sulking but changed his mood once the smell of her cooking reached his nostrils and his mouth watering slightly.

Once everything was in the pan and still needed time to cook she put a lid over and set everything in motion till thirty minutes have passed. Once she did she sighed in relief that she was done and took a seat at her small kitchen table.

She thought it was odd Natsu was quiet during everything; usually he would be chatting to her about things that weren’t important but still made it seem like it. He wasn’t the type to let silence fill the room.

“Natsu you look weird hovering in my kitchen, come sit” she insisted

Natsu cautiously sat down which confirmed her thoughts of him being weird. She eyed him a bit watching his body language which was stiff and rigid, maybe nervous but she couldn’t be certain.

“You okay Natsu?” she asked concerning.

He jumped a little at her question and repeatedly swore in his head. Despite what was going on in head his voice was as steady as a rock.

“You do know you’re talking to me right? Of course I'm fine weirdo!” he joked

She frowned not only at the tease but the fact she knows he’s lying.

“Well I do know that you are a pretty bad liar dummy” she said pointing at his bouncy leg, she knows he starts to do that when he lies. He gulped softly which was loud enough for Lucy to hear.

“It isn’t me is it? Is Lisanna okay with you being over here today?”

He coughed awkwardly, he meant to tell her on Friday night but her news came first and all his mind had been focusing on was her alone.

“Right… um no. I was gonna tell you the other night that her and I broke up over two weeks ago.” He informed uneasily.

Her eyes widened “Oh Natsu I'm sorry! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Natsu cringed when she asked that, although it mainly had to do with him still being in love with her he couldn’t very well tell her that.

“Sorry Luce, but your news was way more important on Friday than mine.” He flattered hoping she wouldn’t pry too much into it.

“Still Natsu, break ups are hard and if I had known you were hurting…” sadly trailing off Natsu panicked.

“Luce I'm fine! I broke it off cause I didn’t want to lead her on, is all. I did hurt a little but that was before I got to see you again.”

He didn’t realize what he said until it was too late. Sure it was meant in a romantic sense but it can be perceived as him just missing her as a friend. He would just have to see how she perceived it.

Her cheeks were a little flushed but she remembered that Natsu had always been sweet like that. What a fool she felt  for letting herself listen to Sting and not be friends with such a lovable Natsu.

“Well as long as you’re not hurting anymore. And it’s a shame you didn’t like her like that, you made a cute couple… I kinda wish someone told me, like Mira or one of the other girls but I guess I hadn’t really been a good friend lately with them.”

He smiled softly at her kindness yet again. It was very seldom Lucy would not be in contact with her girlfriends but taking in what she had been through the past few weeks, who could blame her. After getting harshly dumped then braving up to get inseminated, it’s no wonder she hadn’t stayed in touch with anyone. She worked from home so it’s easy not going into society when needed.

Natsu though did feel special that she wasn’t too busy to spend time with him. He believed he made the right choice making contact with her not too long ago “So does that mean I won’t be the only one to know about… ya know…”

She blinked slowly trying to understand what he meant until it clicked “Oh no, I'm not telling anyone else until the first trimester is done. I don’t want to announce I'm pregnant to everybody in case I might have a miscarriage. Better to be safe.”

Natsu nodded faintly listening to the information but is also finding a way to tell her the news that might… ruin… their relationship… forever.

Natsu panicked inside but tried to get to his announcement casually “S-smart. But I can tell your positive it’ll follow though.”

She smiled lifting her hand to her stomach “I am scared though…  raising him or her alone.”

He perked up a little “Well I mean- hypothetically then- if you knew your baby’s daddy it would be less scary?”

She looked at him blank faced thinking “Well then me getting an unknown donation would be pointless then.”

‘Wait… what!’ he screamed internally

“Uh… what?” is all he could muster.

She leaned back in her chair crossing her arms as she normally did when she would get stubborn “The whole reason I went there was to have a baby without the dad. Sting was a huge wakeup call that a future with a guy and having a family with him, is unpredictable. Let’s say we did get married and had kids, what would stop him from cheating on me like before? Imagine the setbacks! There’d be fighting for custody, a broken family, angsty kids and well… an unhappy life for me.” She explained herself.

“So really this is a blessing! I get an adorable baby and no drama from a guy! I mean come on Natsu, no guy would let me stay friends with you. Sting was a great example of that.” She complained bitterly.

Natsu’s mouth was drying, unmoving of what he has desperately been trying to tell her since he arrived. He instead closed his mouth and licked his lips, slowly trying to calm down his thoughts but her next question made his head go blank.

“Why do you ask?”

He didn’t even think but his mind did its own will “No reason, just wondered if the kid would like to know his or her dad someday…”

Lucy hmmed at his statement “Well I'm sure a father figure would be missing in the house… but I'm sure Uncle Natsu could help in that area!” she said smiling.

He blushed instantly ‘What does she mean by that?!’

“Well I mean that’s if you’re okay if my kid needs someone besides myself to speak to right? Especially if it’s a boy, I’d be no help trying to be a manly figure.”

Natsu calmed himself as she was talking, she always knew how to friendzone someone after she says misleading things. He always knew she would see him like that and the assumption of him being in her life as more than a friend, seemed too good to be true.

Lucy saw her friend’s face looked solemn “Well that’s only if you want to…”

The statement made Natsu jump “O-of  course! Sorry I guess I'm still trying to wrap my head around this all.” he partially lied

She nodded “I understand, and I know we just rekindled our friendship so I'm sure you might be hesitant around me. But know this Natsu, you never stopped being important to me and I won’t ever leave you behind like I did again.” She said in a shaky voice.

Natsu’s heart clenched at her words, for many reasons but mainly for his own selfish thoughts.

It was clear to him now that he will give her what she wants despite what he wishes or thinks is best. At this point he will remain her friend and nothing more; he’ll be her ally, her child’s- his child’s ally as to being referred to uncle if that’s what Lucy wants then he’ll watch the child grow and stay by Lucy’s side and be whatever she wants him to be.

He would only pray that the child would take after Lucy, or else that would be something troubling. In the meantime he will be her tool to get through her pregnancy… that actually stirred more questions in him. He tossed all thoughts away as he saw Lucy on the brink of tears

He stood up from his chair to crouch in front of hers so she could look down on him “Woah Luce of course I’ll be here. You can ask me to do anything; if you need someone to pull back your hair as you puke, make nightly trips to the store, be there with all the mood swings, stay by your side on your due date and helping you with the kid then uncle Natsu is your guy!” he smiled happily to her.

She listened intently and let a fat smile cross her lips and she grabbed the pinkette into a hug “Thank you, you have no idea how much I needed to hear those words. I'm really scared Natsu” she whispered into his shirt which she was dampening by the second.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly “Don’t be, I’ll be here the whole time.”

She let go of him wiping the remaining tears off her face and remembered that the food was more than ready to eat.

She jumped up and ran to the stove to in a flurry “Ahhh, sorry Natsu you must be hungry!”

Still crouching he chuckled to himself and lifted himself to stand; his stomach did make a large growl at the mentioning that the food was done.

Although he had one last thing to do

“Hey Luce, I'm just stepping outside for a bit, I’ll be back.” He told her as he was heading to the front door.

“You better not be smoking Mister! Your fumes aren’t welcome here.” Lucy yelled down the hall.

“I'm quitting don’t worry!” he called back.

As he stepped out he plopped himself on the outside step and opened an app on his phone and started to text.

‘Couldn’t do it… Lucy made it clear she doesn’t want to know who the dad is. I'm pulling out’ he typed sending it to the only person he had spoken to about the situation.

Not even a minute later he got a message back from Gray who he gracefully named ‘Ice Bastard’ on his phone.

‘Dude she’ll find out when that kid is born. Are you willing to risk everything just because she doesn’t want to know?’

Natsu huffed ‘Yes I am plus I promised her I’ll be here for her. And hopefully the kid will take after her.’

‘FINE do what you want; it’s your life after all. But remember this is gonna come with a price Flame Brain.’ Gray snidely commented.

‘You think I don’t know that? Just do me a favour and don’t say anything! You don’t know about me being the donor and you don’t know Lucy is pregnant. Understand?’

Gray didn’t even have the energy to type back but just sent a thumbs up and a middle finger. Natsu dismissed it and closed his phone.

He knew the risks and he didn’t care.