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“Alright, how is this one?” Lucy glanced up from her phone to see her boyfriend’s latest sketch. Her eyes immediately widened as she clasped a hand over her mouth. Absolute shock. The man had drawn their sociology teacher from their earlier class.
Gildarts was an eccentric man on his own, but he often would go off on random tangents. That day, he went on and on about his ex-wife and random stories. Natsu had cartoonishly drawn their teacher, and Lucy laughed at the absurdity and accuracy of the thing.
The two were eating lunch together, as always. Their moment in the day is to relax and have more quiet time. It wasn’t the most thrilling part of the day, but the two enjoyed being in the other’s company.
“Can we pierce my nose this weekend?” Now it was Natsu’s turn to be shocked. He was the one with all the piercings and inkwork; he was surprised to hear that from the blonde. She had a few ear piercings but nothing beyond that. Natsu had been begging her for months to let him take her for a piercing or tattoo.
“Um, hell yeah! Let me call-“
“Natsu, Lucy!” Natsu was cut off as their friend Gray rapidly approached them. Gray was a pretty low-key guy and always stayed whelmed. However, he uncharacteristically looked stressed as he sped walked over to their table.
Lucy, about to take a bite of her yogurt, lowered her spoon.
“Gray? What’s the matter? Are you okay?”
The man started turning away as he responded, “Erza. Trouble, come on!”
The pair shoved their lunch bags and other belongings in their bags as they hurried after the man and out of the lunchroom. Lucy shared a look with Natsu, who looked just as confused. Erza and “trouble” were not too words commonly heard together.
“She’s in the bathroom; I thought it best we stay in a room that is locked and provided privacy.”
Gray brought them to the single-room restroom and rapidly knocked before the door was hesitantly opened.
Seeing the redhead on the other side of the door was the most perplexing part of the situation so far. She had red eyes as tears streamed down her face, mascara smudging.
“Erza?” Gray closed the door after everyone entered and stood by while Natsu tried to communicate through sobs.
Lucy took one look at the panicked-looking boys and rolled her eyes before stepping up to the redhead and pulling her down for a hug. Erza was taller, but she immediately melted into Lucy’s arms as Lucy comfortingly wrapped her arms around her friend.
“Oh honey, it’s okay; let it out!” Lucy ran her fingers through Erza’s hair as she let her friend express her emotions for the moment.
When Lucy felt the girl pull away and take breaths in, she fully released her and gave her space. Natsu and Gray stood against the wall with the door, looking terrified to approach.
“What happened?” Her sobs reduced, and Lucy, as much as she wanted to comfort her, wanted to quell her curiosities. One didn’t often cry at school, and Lucy rarely saw Erza cry in the first place.
Erza wiped her eyes with toilet paper and took a final breath to collect herself, “I planned all week to have this Friday be the day I asked Jellal to be in a relationship with me officially. And when I approached him during our free period this morning, he told me he was married! He’s been flirting with me for months and always sits by me in our classes. Why would he lead me on like that? And married? He’s barely eighteen! I’m just so confused and upset right now. Was I just a prank?”
Lucy made a sort of cough, gasp, scoff; she couldn’t decipher what came out of her body then. A reaction of shock for sure. Marriage. She couldn’t believe that. That was the ridiculous excuse she had ever heard. The man wasn’t married. They shared an English class, and Lucy peer-edited his essay. No one who was eighteen and using the wrong form of “there” should be married.
Lucy turned away from her friend to face the men in the back. They just seemed pissed hearing the whole story. Natsu, Erza, and Gray were longtime friends. They were their own sort of family. Since the four were a solid friend group, Natsu was dating Lucy, and he and Gray often were around for girl talk. He, unfortunately, was aware of the redhead’s feelings for Jellal. He was pissed.
Lucy grabbed the front of their shirts and pulled them down to her level.
“Your sister is crying; I don’t care what you do. But comfort her, be there for her, and find a way to brighten her day.” A serious Lucy was an intimidating Lucy.
“Erza, girl, I love you. Jellal is an idiot. I will be back.”
The blonde left the restroom on a mission. On days Natsu wasn’t at school, the blonde chose to spend lunch inside the library instead, coincidentally where a certain man with a face tattoo also spent his lunch.
Lucy almost slammed the library doors open and marched to her destination. The target was sitting unbothered in a chair with a book—disgusting sight. Without waiting, Lucy gripped his wrist and pulled him to the hallway.
“Lucy? What is this?”
“Marriage? Genius? Where’s your ring then?” Lucy grabbed his hand and held it between them to emphasize her point and his ringless finger.
The man dared to look ashamed, “Oh, she told you about that?” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and avoided eye contact.
“You better have a good explanation. I’ll let you know I plan to write a fantasy novel, so I’ve done a lot of historical research to incorporate into my story. I happen to know a lot of different torture methods used throughout the ages. Do with that information what you will.”
Jellal gulped, “Okay, I’m not married. I acknowledge that. I just panicked. I didn’t ever expect Erza to want to be with me. I was caught off guard that any of my advances worked. Look, Lucy, I’m socially awkward; I completely panicked.”
Lucy dragged her hands down her face and dramatically sighed, “You are an idiot. If you want to be with her, you tell her and don’t make ridiculous excuses that don’t make any sense. And don’t take advantage of her kindness. She respects you, which is why she fully believes in your answer. However, I see that response for the BS it truly was and had no respect for that. So, we’re going to go fix this right now.”
She turned and started down the hall, with the scared man following behind like a wounded puppy.
Lucy stopped outside the bathroom door and told Jellal to stay put. Then she knocked on the door and slipped into the bathroom.
“Jellal is outside. He has some things to tell you. However, I will make him leave if you don’t want to speak to him. I think you may like what he has to say, I wouldn’t have brought him within 50 feet if I didn’t see a positive outcome come out of this.”
Erza didn’t have any tears, and she seemed more collected. She merely nodded and left the restroom.
“Can I kill him?” Natsu merely crossed his arms and nodded in agreement.
“As much as I like that idea. We can’t. Well- maybe. Depending on how this conversation goes. But I think Erza has too kind of a soul and likes him just enough that he’ll live another day.”
Gray huffed in annoyance, “Great. I can also faintly hear their conversation. Does that mean we have to wait out here while they talk?”
“I didn’t even think about that. I guess so. Damn, guess we better entertain ourselves.”
Natsu brightly grinned before sitting cross-legged on the ground and bringing the blonde down to his lap.
“Gray. Lucy wants a nose piercing.” Gray’s face lit up. He, like Natsu, had some tattoos and piercings of his own. Gray quickly sat across from Natsu and Lucy as he pitched in his own thoughts. The trio eagerly got lost in conversation about body jewelry as they waited for time to pass.
Finally, after ten minutes, there was a gentle knock on the door. Lucy opened the door widely as the three rushed out of the bathroom. It was a wonderful place for privacy, but once the shock of Erza’s upset wore off, the realization they were stuck in a bathroom became quite unpleasant.
Erza smiled gently, “So, he apologized. We’re officially dating as of two minutes ago.”
Natsu and Gray rushed to wrap their “sister” in a celebratory hug. Then the two boys realized what they were doing and backed away. Natsu settled to wrap his arms around Lucy instead. The blonde comfortingly grasped her boyfriend’s forearms, “I’m happy for you, Erza. And I’m glad we can all put this lunch period behind us. Maybe you and Jellal can come to one of Natsu and I’s story brainstorming nights. That boy needs to work on his storytelling skills.
By the time the whole fiasco was settled, lunch was over. The bell rang, and the group walked off to their classes; everyone was content with the outcome.