Loosing precious time

~8~

Sometimes I like to keep quiet and just stare at the sky;
I want to get away from the ground and fly
But my body wont sprout wings, no matter how hard I try...

"One black coffee and a portion of cheesecake for table one!" Lucy called out to the cook Sean, proceeding to fill the cup with coffee, while staring at Natsu who was sitting at the bar in front of her. He looked like he was thinking about something important, so she didn't want to bother him, but the truth was she was really worried for her best friend. He had offered to walk her to her job for her second day, and was really happy to go to work with her, even as a customer. He didn't have any money though, so she had to pay for him out of her paycheck. But, she didn't really mind, as long as he was here.

And now that he had finally finished his coffee, he had nothing to do, but stare at his hands, and she thought he was really cute like that. But ever since yesterday, Natsu had seemed very interested in her job, and eager to come with her. She didn't knew why, but somehow, her mind kept drifting to Kaori.

"Lucy, are you okay?" Said girl asked her, and Lucy had to look down to notice that the cup she had been filling was overflowing with coffee. She turned off the machine, and apologized before wiping away the excess, and giving it to the customer, along with the cheesecake which was just served.

She returned back behind the bar, sighing in relief that she didn't mess something else up. "Don't space out," Natsu suddenly warned her. "Look who's talking" she replied, and he gave her a confused look.

"Kaori-chan, can I go take my break now?" She asked, the orange haired girl nodding in approval. "Thanks. I'm going to the convenience store to buy a sandwich. Are you coming Natsu?" But he just shook his head, and she had to leave him alone while she went to buy herself a sandwich. It was a shame the café only sold sweet things, since she really didn't want to leave him alone like that with Kaori.

As she bit into her sandwich, and felt the cold spring breeze sway her hair around, she thought about her emotions. Sure, she already knew that she was in love with her best friend, since they've been together for so long, it was inevitable. But, she also knew that he didn't harbor the same feelings towards her. And now, seeing that he had a little bit of interest towards her coworker made her feel even worse, and she didn't want them to get close. So, was this jealousy? It probably was, since she didn't want to leave him there to talk with her. She just hoped that Kaori was super busy, and she didn't have time to spend it with him.

Since when had Lucy gotten so worried about her relationship with Natsu? She desperately wanted him to leave the café. And even if she wouldn't be able to watch him, she knew that he wouldn't be able to watch Kaori as well. Lucy didn't even know if there was anything going on between them, and they only met just yesterday. But she somehow felt that it wasn't going to be good for her.

She stepped into the warm interior of her new workplace, feeling the sweet aroma of morning coffee. She loved this place already, and was not willing to sacrifice her job and earnings for a person Natsu might have interest in. So for now, her decision was to let things slide at their own pace, and not try to get information out of Natsu. If he fell in love with Kaori, he would surely tell Lucy, his best friend.

And after all, now that Lucy had her own job, she could finally start thinking about making her dreams a reality. She wanted to find her father most of all, just so she could ask him why it became like this. Why was she left forgotten on the streets? She always wanted to find the answer, but never really spoke about it in front of the others, since she didn't want to burden them with her problems.

Glancing towards the big white clock, situated on the wall, right above the door to the kitchen, she noticed it was almost time for her shift to end. Looks like she'll have Natsu walk her home, since he was still sitting on the counter. But, as she approached him, and stood behind the bar to continue her work, she noticed a fresh cup of coffee before him. That was strange, since she didn't remember him asking for more.

But, not allowing herself to over think things, she just concentrated on her work, and stopped thinking about her personal problems.

"One Mochaccino please!"

"Coming right up!"

"Goodbye guys, have a safe trip home!"

"Bye, bye Kaori-chan!" Lucy shouted back at her coworker, and Natsu just waved. They started walking home, staring at the evening sky. Lucy had gotten used to her job and was doing pretty well, even though this was only her second day. Natsu had never left the café for a moment, and Lucy found that somewhat suspicious.

"That Kaori girl is pretty nice," He suddenly blurted out, which started Lucy. And, not being prepared for the conversation to take this kind of turn, she just nodded. "I mean, she gave me a refill of coffee when she noticed that I was done with mine."

"Yeah, she's a pretty nice girl." Lucy agreed.

"Do you know anything about her? Like… where she lives, or something like that?"

"Do you want her blood type, too?" Lucy said jokingly, but he looked serious.

"I'm not joking Luce, I think… I think I like her…"

Stopping in her tracks to recover from the shock those words induced, Lucy felt her heart's beating quicken, as she stared down at the cobblestone pathway. She never thought he'd be so blunt as to just tell her how he feels. And he just met her, anyway! How could he start liking a girl so fast? Was this one of those, 'love at first sight' things she's read so much about?

"I mean, it's not love or anything like that… but she's cute and stuff…" Natsu looked away from her, and kept walking.

Lucy forced her feet to move, so she could finally catch up with him, while her brain was shouting at her to slap him and walk away. She was angry of course, since he had just fallen in love with a girl he'd just met, and she was by his side for years and he didn't even say anything! How could she get beaten by her coworker like this? But Lucy wasn't ready to give up like this!

"Yeah, she's pretty cute… so, what do you like about her?" she asked, watching Natsu think for a moment. This was perfect! There was no way he'd remember some detail about her so fast!

"I like how she always puts a half of a strawberry on the top of the sundaes she makes."

Lucy's mouth dropped open. She couldn't argue with that! Kaori really did always put half a strawberry on the top of every sundae ever. Lucy however, always puts a little piece of chocolate on the top, but it looks like Natsu didn't have the time to notice that. So, showing him the best smile she could muster at the moment, she mumbled "Yeah", before falling silent for the rest of the walk home.

Looking at Natsu now, she didn't really know what she liked about him. She was sitting on her bed supposedly reading a book she got from Levy, and Natsu was on his bed, sleeping. The lights were turned off, only the little lamp on Lucy's bedside table was left on, so that she could read.

And so, sneakily looking at him sleep, she wondered what really made her fall in love with that idiot. It was probably because they've known each other forever, and she knew everything there was to know about him. He could really be sweet at times too, and he was always happy to help her with everything she needed, not to mention he was really handsome because he always worked out in the morning. He was cute too…well she stopped herself here because she didn't want to let this list continue on forever.

"Mmh…" she heard him mumble in his sleep, as she quickly pretended that she was reading the book and not staring at him in his sleep. She didn't want to look like a creeper. "Hey…" his voice was groggy, and she still stared at the book, "Oh? You're awake Natsu?" she asked as if she didn't hear him speak, and he started twisting and turning on his bed, before he got up and stood at the middle of the room, his eyes closed.

Was he still sleeping? Was he sleepwalking? In all her years of living here with him, she had never seen Natsu sleep walk and she was surprised as hell. She cursed herself for not having a camera or phone, and promised to buy one when she got the money.

"Mm… Luce" he mumbled, as he walked to her bed, pushing her to the side.

"Eek!" She shouted in surprise, suddenly being shoved to the side, and Natsu dropping down on the bed, next to her. She left her book on the bedside table, not really bothering to mark where she'd stopped reading. It's not like she was paying attention to the story anyway…

Natsu hugged her by the side, and she barely stretched out her hand to turn off the lamp. And now, enveloped in the darkness, she tried talking to him to see if he was awake. But, no matter how many times she poked his cheek, he didn't wake up, and she decided to just give up, and let him sleep here for the night. This wasn't the first time something like this has happened. There was even a period of time where they used to sleep on the same bed, but never in a million years would she guess that he would want to sleep next to her even though he likes Kaori.

She chased away those sad thoughts, and covered them both with the blanket. Well, she might as well enjoy this while it lasts. Snuggling into his arms, Lucy relaxed once she felt his familiar smell, and new that no matter where she was, if he was there next to her, she would be safe.

"Mm, chocolate is tastier than strawberries…" he suddenly mumbled.

Blush spread on her cheeks, as she buried her head in her pillow.

Maybe she still had some time to make him hers…

(notes): You go Lucy! I'll cheer you on! - says the girl who made Natsu like Kaori and Lucy feel alone.

Welp, I really hope you guys liked this one, and just to say, I find this story really refreshing. I mean, I'm stuck working with a lot of things back at home, and I have a shitload of studying to do, and then there's my other unfinished story which i pressure myself to update every few days...

And then there's this little story right here, which I never rush, and update when I have the time to...

It's really a good refreshing thing after everything I do...

Why am I even boring you with this? Is anyone even reading?

Anyways, thanks a lot for reading, please leave a review! Bye bye !

~With Keys, Through Flames! Aye!~