Lucy groaned at the faint sound in the distance. It made no sense to her. She rolled over to her other side, comfortable on her soft mattress. She tried to slip back into the deep sleep she had been forced out of. The sound came again, confusing her further. It sounded closer this time. She tried to ignore it. She was so tired. Again, she was disrupted, the sound forcing her to rub her sleepy eyes. They felt so heavy as she attempted to open them. The welcomed darkness of the night gave way to the brightness of the sunlight now shinning through her open windows. Open? That wasn't right! She was sure she had closed the curtains the night before. She blinked away the brightness of the morning sun and opened her eyes to the familiar sight of her room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She froze. There was that sound yet again. This time she recognized it immediately.
"Natsu!" she moaned as she stared across her room at the grinning dragon-slayer.
"What are you doing in my room?" Lucy demanded, annoyed to see her pink-haired friend. He had a bad habit of doing this.
"Trying to wake you up," he responded as his grin grew bigger. Lucy pressed her lips together, trying to stay mad at him. Curse that stupidly adorable grin of his!
"I'm trying to sleep," she told him and flopped back down to get more rest. She was up way too late last night to be awake this early.
"But you can't!" Natsu protested as he pulled her bed cover off her. Lucy groaned, grabbing the edge of her cover to get it back. It was a pointless effort. Lucy was never stronger than Natsu.
"But today is a special day,' the dragon-slayer eagerly informed her. This caught her attention and she immediately stopped her tug-of-war with him. But today is a special day. His words rang loudly in her ears. She stared at Natsu with bewilderment. Did he really know what today was, and why would he call it special? She felt her heart pound loudly in her chest as she noticed the slight redness on his cheeks. What is going on here? Is this really happening? Lucy's eyes widened.
"Special day," she whispered, unsure if she should get her hopes up again for the umpteenth time. Natsu nodded his head enthusiastically.
"A restaurant down the street is giving away free food today!" he exclaimed, eagerly jumping forward as he anticipated Lucy's burst of excitement. Huh? Lucy blinked at him blankly. It took her a moment to register his words. That's it! That's why today is special! The celestial mage sighed. Of course! Why would today be any different? It was silly. Lucy shouldn't have hoped. But she had! She had thought that maybe, just maybe, today would actually be different. Because today was the day of love. Today was Valentine's day. But what did Natsu know about that kind of love? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Lucy sighed again and turned away from her beaming friend. She didn't want him to see her disappointed face. Again!
"Get Happy to go with you," she mumbled as she pulled her bed cover over her face. She just wanted to sleep this day away. She frowned at what was in the draw of her desk. Deep down she had really hoped that today would be different!
"He can't! He's out. Something about having to make today special for Carla," Natsu responded, frowning to himself.
"Whatever that means," he added and folded his arms. What could be more important than free food?! Lucy cringed. She wanted to lash out at the clueless boy. It was pointless. It wasn't Natsu's fault he was so clueless when it came to love. Actually, when it came to many things, but especially love.
"You have to go with me! I can't go without a partner!" he begged Lucy, pulling the cover off again and forcing her to look at him. Lucy's face instantly went red. He was so close. Too close! She started to back away, but stopped when Natsu held out a piece of paper in front of her. It was a flyer for the new restaurant down the street.
"See! It says so here!" Natsu told the celestial mage and she read over the flyer he was urging her to read.
"Celebrate the day of love and bring your partner to our free, romantic carvery for two…" Lucy started to read. Her voice trailed off as she realized what Natsu hadn't. He really has no clue!
"Natsu this is for a…d-date…for, um…Valentine's day," she tried to explain to him, stumbling over her words as she felt her face go hotter. Natsu stared at her blankly for a long time. Lucy grew uneasy.
"What's that?" he eventually asked, and Lucy almost fell off her bed. Nothing? Nothing at all?!
"Go ask Gray, or Gajeel, or someone else," Lucy moaned at him, trying to push him to the door. He didn't quite get the hint to leave.
"But…" he tried to speak. Lucy wouldn't let him.
"I need more sleep! I was up all night," Lucy told Natsu sternly. He quickly turned to face her, catching her off guard.
"Why were you up all night?" he asked as a small gasp escaped Lucy's lips. She immediately stopped trying to force him out and resisted the urge to look at her desk. It hid her deepest secret. The home-made gift she had made for him. Last night she had every intention of giving it to him today. But after this morning, she wasn't as confident. He would never really understand what it meant. What it is supposed to mean. Lucy shook her head and snapped back to the situation she found herself in. Natsu was waiting for an explanation. She wasn't about to give him one.
"Just let me sleep!" Lucy snapped as she pushed the protesting Natsu out the door, forcing it closed so he wouldn't come back in. She slammed her body against the door and let out an exasperated sigh. She could hear Natsu stomping away on the other side of the door. He wasn't happy. Neither was she! She glanced at her desk and frowned. Why did it have to be Natsu? Why couldn't it be someone who understood the matters of the heart? But it wasn't. It was Natsu. Lucy put her hand against her heart. It is only ever Natsu.