YouLove

in magnolia

And in the days, even weeks, to come, Natsu found himself drowning in the calmness of not being so alone anymore.

After that first, accidental conversation where Happy had to interrupt and put dirt in his keyboard, forcing him to change to his phone and making all kind of typos, while being awkward, he'd found… a friend.

If he could really call a friend to a person he'd never met before.

But Lucy, that weirdo, had become something he'd always be waiting for. No matter the time, the place, the circumstances, he was always taking a glance to his phone, checking if the white light would pop out, meaning she had texted him.

When he had become so desperate like that, he didn't know. Maybe since Igneel died so many years ago? Probably.

And that had left him with a big hole in his chest, making him feel all empty every second of the day. He'd lived to find something, someone who could make it if only a bit smaller, to fill him again.

He'd tried many things to feel better, for so long now.

He'd lived to Igneel's teachings, trying to live to the fullest, smiling, making people happy, studying hard to achieve his dream. The study part had always been the hardest for him. He still didn't know what he wanted to be when older, but Igneel… he was a lovely doctor, always telling him that no matter what, he wanted to build a good future for Natsu.

Such a liar, Natsu thought, leaning on the wall of the apartment, one hand inside a pocket and the other putting the coke glass to his lips, all while smiling with a hint of sadness. If he wanted a good future for him, then he shouldn't have died, right? He should have taken care of his own illness and continue to live, for everyone's sake.

But no, he went there and died, leaving him all alone. It was only a ray of luck that Weisslogia, Sting's dad, took him in. Everyone throughout his whole life had told him how such a pain he was, so when Igneel disappeared, he was ready to give up.

But for some reason… he didn't. He continued to live on. Not feeling anything at all, that was for sure, but he just went on with it.

And with time people came… Gildarts, Erza, Gray, Mirajane, Lisanna, Elfman, Laxus, Gajeel. They reminded him family was still there, open to hug him once more, no matter the pain, the loss, the tears. They were a support to keep him there, even if for a short time. Because Gildarts went to continue his eternal journey, Erza got engaged with the man of her dreams, Gray moved to another city, the Strauss had to move too, due to Mira's celebrity life, Laxus went to college far away, and Gajeel lived in the next town.

Natsu appreciated all of their actions with him, like sending him messages often, checking on him. But he knew it was not the same as before. He was another pain for them, he was sure of it.

And then he started a new thing. His YouTube channel.

He'd watched in a TV, on those news programs, about people who uploaded videos on the internet about anything they wanted. He got curious. He watched. He liked.

And he started doing the same.

He didn't mean for anyone to watch them. He just got his phone camera ready and filmed everything he wanted. From pranks, to casual things, to his rants. And he put them on the internet, because he wanted to watch them all when he felt down or got older. But for some odd reason someone watched those, and when he blinked he started having subscribers.

He didn't let it stop from doing what he wanted. Let people watch, he didn't care. He had nothing to hide, or that's what he thought. With time people stared asking him things, so he did his best answering those that didn't give out personal information.

And slowly he started watching his friends' videos. He found out that almost everyone got the same idea, and it made him feel safer, somehow. There were people there that knew him, too. And it was a way to keep in touch with what happened with them.

And then he found her.

She was all kind smile and nice laugh, with a golden halo always encircling her. But he saw it, in one moment, the true eyes she had. Sad, nervous, tired. But she continued.

He was inspired.

Natsu squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. He was again letting things from the past come back at him. He was already tired enough from that math class to make his mind think harder. He was exhausted.

He put down the glass in the sink, already grimacing at the reminder that he didn't even have time to sleep. He needed to wash the dishes and then call the delivery, because he was in no mood for cooking. Sting was lucky to have Yukino cook for him.

He groaned loudly, scaring Happy in the process. The cat had come back safe and sound after jumping from the window weeks ago, in that fateful day where he'd talked with Lucy. Her weird presence always helped him feel a little bit better. After all, for now at least, she was only words in his phone screen.

Really opportunes words in his phone screen.

His phone vibrated over his bed, and he gladly picked it up. She had said she was in class before, and even with him teasing her about being a nerd and listening to school, she still refused to take her phone out.

It was really boring without her, but who was him to change her ways?

"Not because I suck at Maths means I should not listen!" Lucy typed. Her weird emojis always accompanied her texts. It was so Lucy, he didn't know why.

At least, now he could say she seemed more at ease while talking to him. He was glad.

"Whatever Luce," he wrote back. "Are you out of school now?"

"Yup," she said.

He bit his lip. He wondered if it was okay to ask her something he'd been meaning to ask her for some time now.

"Oh my God, you wouldn't believe what happened to my friend Levy!" Lucy said. He frowned. His time passed.

Lucy had talked about Levy a lot of times before, and Natsu actually kind of meet her, if he hadn't gone mad that day, so he knew very well what Lucy was talking about.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Well," she said. "Do you know IronMetal? I think you do,"

"Yeah," he said, scowling. Maybe he'd forgotten to tell her he was his cousin, but since he didn't consider it that important, he didn't mention it.

"He started talking to Levy by Skype today!" Lucy wrote. He could picture her bright smile, the excitement in her voice. Those emojis helped too.

He didn't understand why, though. "So?"

"Natsuuu," she wrote. He loved it when she wrote his name like that. "Did you already forget about what I told you?"

"You always talk a lot, so don't expect me to remember it all weirdo," he shook his head, grinning. Suddenly he wasn't so tired as before.

"Ughh, fine," she said. "I told you I think IronMetal (I think his name's Gajeel) likes Levy,"

He snorted. To imagine his cousin, all height and muscular and piercings, blushing and thinking about a tiny girl like Levy was an imagine he didn't want to remember.

"Why do ya think that?" he asked curiously. As far as he'd get to know her, he knew Lucy's imagination was wild, and most of the time, rather funny.

"Because," she started, "they flirt all the time! Seriously, sometimes it's kind of annoying… But they're also really cute when they talk! I looked through Levy's phone the other day, and you should see them 'bicker' through YouTube comments… Sometimes I think they're hopeless,"

"So do they bicker or flirt?" Natsu asked, confused.

"It's… they bicker flirting," Lucy answered.

"What is that?"

"Umm, I don't know how to explain," Lucy said. "But the thing is, I think there's future for them," and there went her emojis.

"No way," Natsu actually laughed, again at the picture of Gajeel, in love, holding a bouquet of red roses to a girl while blushing. "If they were to end up together, Levy would have to see Gajeel's face all the time, and even listen to him sing!"

"I think Levy likes Gajeel's voice…" Lucy said.

"No way!" Natsu said, laughing harder. Oh, if only Gajeel knew. "So does Levy like him? Are you serious?"

"Well…" Lucy said. "She'll kill me for telling you this, but I think her crush on him is big now,"

"I never thought someone would like that bastard," Natsu shook his head, smiling.

"Saying that makes me think you really know him," Lucy said.

Natsu blinked. "Oh, did I never tell you Gajeel's my cousin?"

"You didn't!" Lucy said in caps. He wondered it it was a big revelation. He hadn't thought it was that important.

"Sorry?" he wasn't sure. He sat in his bed, scratching above his hip, under his shirt, wondering what was happening. Those moments when messages couldn't be enough to clear it up for him made him wish harder that they could meet personally.

Or maybe it was a bad idea. One thing was texting, but being face-to-face was completely different. And the last thing he needed was Lucy thinking he was weirder than he seemed, and she leaving him alone was not something he wanted or needed at the moment.

"It's okay," she said. "I just didn't know. Does Gajeel live in Magnolia? Sorry if it's a weird ask!"

"Umm, no, he lives in Oak Town," his heart skipped a beat.

If she wanted to know if he lived in Magnolia that meant Levy also lived there, and if Levy lived there and was friends with Lucy then it meant Lucy also lived in Magnolia, the same city where he lived?

He groaned, running a hand through his hair and lying down in the bed. He was overthinking stuff now. Since when Natsu Dragneel did that?

Happy jumped over next to him and caressed his neck with his blue fur. Natsu smiled brightly at him and scratched him under the ears, right in that spot where the cat loved.

"Ohh, I see," Lucy typed. He saw her writing, then deleting, then writing again. He was already nervous when she finally sent her next text. "... and you?"

His eyes widened a little. Never since they started talking she'd asked something so personal. It was shocking, but weirdly, not uncomfortable.

He smiled. "South Magnolia."

She'd asked what he'd wanted to ask for so long. "I see! Levy once told me she saw you in her trip there, but I wasn't sure if I had to believe it or not,"

"Yeah! I remember seeing her too!" he said. "But I think I never saw you around,"

"We're actually from North Magnolia," Lucy wrote.

She was only a train away. Too bad he had motion sickness.

"Woah," he said. "I… it's kind of surprising,"

"Yeah," she typed, "I would have never expected it to be honest,"

Natsu took a deep breath and started to type his answer, but then he deleted it. Maybe, even after three months of constant talking weren't enough to meet. He didn't want to scare her with asking her something like that. Maybe, maybe some day in the future.

"Same," he simply answered. Happy licked his ear, making him jump in surprise at the contact of his wet tongue and his skin. But it was enough to remind him of his duties."I need to go make lunch, bye!"

He was already closing the app when she suddenly texted, "Wait!"

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"We can start a call," Lucy proposed, "so you don't feel alone while cooking!"

Natsu gulped.

Word Count= 2022. Thanks for reading, and for your constant support! This story would not be the same without your lovely words, thank you so so much! And as you can see, this story is progressing rather quickly... well, it's because I kind of lost a bit of inspiration for this, and I don't want it to turn out long! Maybe around 20 chapters? What do you guys think?

Also, if any of you is in the Akatsuki no Yona fandom, I'd love if you can check my new fic, it's called roads&trips! Thank you!

Special thanks to PinkFireandGoldenStars for reviewing every chapter last time! Love you~~

Shout Outs to: Requipmage1255 (you're always first because you're the first one to review! Also I'm not senpai *blush*) - Grimnack - MarSofTheGalaxies - wishyouweremedontya - LePengwen - PhantomPierce-Okamoto - SingingAngel327 - 567random - Rose Tiger - NightKnight13 - MehKitty - cloudcather - NaLu x Buckets - PrincessMophia - KaUiA - brooke315 - SENDMETONALUHELL - LavenderMoonRose - kirby42280 - Kaneki'sSpicyThigh's - shippinginjune - Zoe The Fairy - Lyonsgirl - animegirl549 - Orangeblossom Asakura - Guest - SkyLine1912 - TopazDesiertoFleur -Person.