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Five hours.
It has been five hours since Lucy left her apartment to meet up with her new publisher who also announced his romantic feelings for her just a few weeks ago. As her teammate and boyfriend, Natsu doesn’t sit well with this kind of situation.
He’s fine avenging her from the people who had wounded her physically, or even from swatting away those pesky flies who continues to look at her with lasciviousness – If only Natsu can pound them to the ground for hundreds of times, he knew that he’ll do it – but that man is different. He’s nice, clean, normal, and his confession to Lucy about him liking her due to her writing skills places him away from the category that those pesky flies belong in.
Of course, Lucy told him about Natsu being her boyfriend, and she clearly rejected him, but…
It already has been five hours!
Natsu sighs while placing his head on the table, asking himself when was the last time he ever cared about time itself?
“I miss her.” Natsu mumbles to himself, burying his head on the scarf that Teacher Anna made for him when he was a child. The smell reminds him of the scene wherein Lucy would gently remove it from him when he was pretending to be asleep, only to wash it along with her laundry.
He smiles, remembering how red her face became when he began to tease her about it.
When the main door of the guild hall opened, Natsu immediately lifted his face to see who was coming in. His smile only widened upon seeing her girlfriend walk inside. He was about to call her when a familiar face entered his vision, making him frown deeply in confusion.
“Hey Natsu!” Lucy calls out to him as she waves her hand to gain his attention. Not that she has to do so since she already attained it just by entering the guild hall.
“Hey.” He greets her back, pulling her body towards him when she finally reached the table, he was sitting in. He couldn’t stop himself from glaring at the black-haired publisher who was currently pushing his glasses on top of his nose bridge in attempt to lessen the tension Natsu was providing. “What’s he doing here?”
Lucy smacks his head before responding. “He wanted to interview you for an article that will be published in the sorcerer weekly.”
“Me?” Natsu raises his eyebrows in confusion. “Why me?”
She shrugs. “Don’t know. Ask him.”
As per her suggestion, Natsu was about to ask him when suddenly, the young man beat him to the bush. “It’s nice to meet you, Natsu-san! I heard so much about you from Lucy sensei! My name is-”
“You don’t have to tell me.” Natsu intervened while secretly giving him an eerie smile. “Not that I’ll remember it anyway.”
“Oi Natsu!” Lucy, once again, smacked his head. Natsu couldn’t help but groan from the pain. She looks at her publisher and smiled. “Sorry about that. My boyfriend was a bit rude.”
“N-no it’s okay!” The publisher says, frowning upon hearing her say that label. “It will only take a minute. Please allow me to question you for a bit, Natsu-san.”
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, only to agree after Lucy persuaded him from doing so.
***
As they were walking home, hands entwined together, Lucy continues to tell him about why they took so long in talking about the details for her upcoming novel.
“He says too many random things in between our discussion.” Lucy pouts as she clearly shows how uncomfortable she was earlier during their meeting. “He would ask if I’m okay, if I’m comfortable with him, or if the food we were eating was suitable to my palate. I mean, not that I don’t mind answering his last question but… it’s too much.”
Once again, Lucy sighs deeply. Natsu couldn’t stop himself from bawling his other fist that was hidden away from his girlfriend. In attempt to lighten the mood, Natsu smirks and slowly leans his head towards her. “Is that so? But I still remember the time when fairy tail was being interviewed a few years ago. You dressed up very prettily, but the reporter was only interested in Erza or the other known members of the guild.”
Lucy blushes. “T-that was a long time ago! How can you remember such an embarrassing thing about me?!”
Natsu chuckles. “That’s because it’s about you, Lucy. Even back then, you’re someone precious to me already.”
“Oh you.” Natsu continues to laugh as Lucy tries to taunt him but fails. “Besides we were young back then. It’s true that I wanted my name to be spread back then, but this time, it’s different.”
“How so?”
Lucy stops from walking in which the young dragon slayer quickly notices. He too stopped as well, waiting for the celestial wizard to continue her statement. She smiles and connects her warm gaze to his. “It’s because I have you now. I could care less about being famous. What matters is us, and only us.”
Natsu’s eyes trembled after hearing those words. He couldn’t help but smile as he tightens his grip around her hand.
“Yeah.” He whispers, placing his forehead on top of hers. “Only us.”
***
He’s back again.
And Natsu doesn’t like it – at all.
Seeing him eyeing his girlfriend, not knowing how his thoughts are currently running, irritates The Salamander. Lucy seems to have noticed as well, forcing to smile just to make Natsu think that everything is going well.
Well, it’s not.
And Natsu knows it perfectly well.
“Are you not done yet?” Natsu whispers to Lucy upon deciding to come over to their spot. He was standing a few meters away from them earlier in this café shop, but he couldn’t take it anymore. His jealousy is crowding his thoughts and he knew that it wasn’t right.
But he can’t help it, can he? How could he not feel jealous over the fact that he’s watching some dude flirt with his girlfriend right in front of his face? Even if it’s just a business meeting, this is too much.
“We’re actually done already.” Lucy replies, looking up at Natsu with a thankful expression. He suddenly realizes how much Lucy must have wanted to get out of this place, and he feels bad that he hasn’t noticed it sooner.
She looks back at her publisher with a forced and business-like smile. “Thanks for today, but I really have to go now.”
“Wait!” The publisher immediately stands up just when Lucy was about to leave her seat. Natsu notices the positioning and movement of his hands, predicting that it might grab Lucy’s hand. So, just when it was about to happen, Natsu steps forward to grab him by the collar, pulling him up to prevent him from doing anything stupid.
“My girlfriend says that she wants to go already.” He lets him go, forcefully pushing him away from them. “Scram or I’ll burn your annoying face.”
The publisher, however, haven’t moved an inch from his spot. Like an immature kid, he exploded. “This, this isn’t fair! Lucy sensei what can you see in this barbaric man?! You deserve so much more than this!”
Natsu can only roll his eyes from his statement.
Lucy, on the other hand, took it negatively. She steps in front of Natsu, shielding him away from her publisher, her hand gripping tightly to his own. “You have no right to say those words.” She says, eyes blazing with nothing but pure animosity. “I’m cutting our contract, stay away from us if you don’t want to feel the wrath of the one guild you don’t want to anger.”
Once the publisher took off, minutes after having a staring contest, Lucy exhaled. She turned her body to embrace the young lad who still feels proud from the stunt that his girlfriend did.
“Are you okay?” Lucy asks him, tightening her hold on his body.
Natsu can’t help but chuckle. “I should be asking you that. I’m sorry about your novel. I’ll find you a new publisher if you want.”
“Not that kind of publisher, oh god.” Natsu laughs out loud after hearing her say those words. Honestly, he felt relieved. He doesn’t know what he’ll do if ever Lucy chooses to leave him over some normal dude.
Goodness, he really hopes she doesn’t.
That night, Lucy made him dinner as a way of showing her gratitude and at the same time, to ask him for forgiveness. She told him that even though she already noticed how uncomfortable Natsu was with regards to her endeavors, she didn’t even try to do anything about it and just proceeded with it.
“I’m sorry about that. It was selfish of me to do so.” Lucy tells him as they both snuggle in the comforter. She laid her head on his shoulder, feeling warm and secure.
However, instead of him agreeing to her statement, Natsu shook his head and gently held her hands on his own. “I will support anything you want to do, and I know that being a writer is one of your dreams. How will I ever become a proper boyfriend if I can’t endure the jealousy I feel whenever I see a random guy approaching you with improper thoughts?” Natsu grins, showing Lucy his current expression. “I’ll just show them who you belong to, that’s all.”
Lucy smiles, wrapping her arms around him once more. “You know, there’s an easy way to do that, Natsu.”
“What’s that?”
Natsu tilted his head in confusion as Lucy begins to tower his body. Her long blonde hair touched his shoulders as her hands made its way up to his face. She caressed his cheeks before gently kissing him, her lips as light as a feather.
“You can always mark me.” Lucy tells him and cranes her neck for an easy access. “I don’t mind.”
Natsu’s eyes darkened as his gaze traveled from her eyes, and down to her exposed neck. He slowly lifts his hand and touched it.
He sighs and once again stared at her dazzlingly beautiful brown eyes. “Then, may I?”
She nods her head and smiles. “You may.”
After that incident, Natsu couldn’t help but smile whenever he sees his own marks plastered on the visible areas of his girlfriend’s body.
His job became easier, and quite satisfying.