A/N: I feel like I should clear some stuffs up. Please bear with me. Yes, Natsu is a misogynistic manwhore. That's the whole point of the story, actually. I want to write the slow transition about him changing his view on life. And no, he didn't defend Lucy from Jenny because he didn't hear it, he was away from the table. I think I didn't make that part very clearly. My apologies.

If what you want is a story about a playboy who wakes up one day and realizes that he's in love and just shape up and turn into a one-woman man straight away, I'm sorry but you'll find this story not to your taste. What you're looking for is a slow-burning story of fate and love where people try to get over their difference, insecurities and fear, and the struggle of taking a leap of faith before getting their happily ever after with a side dish of humor, drama, and a little heartache, you've come to a right place, my friends.

So, while I appreciate constructive criticism, some of the harsh comments actually hurts sometimes; I'm still a human who's trying to do what I love which is building characters and portray them as realistically as I can. I'm aware of my many limits and flaws. Maybe in time, I'll grow a thicker skin but sadly, not now. So, please kindly think about other people's feelings before you review. Thank you for reading my rant and hope you would still enjoy this story.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Fairy Tail or its characters.

Chapter 5

The Family Reunion and The Swimming Lesson

Natsu hated Tuesday. He had double lectures for Sociology 101 and the professor was maddeningly boring. The worst part was it was a 9am class so, he didn't have much time to rest after his usual morning jog and the day only ended at 4pm.

After the tiring long class ended, he bolted out of the room before anyone else. The phone in his pants pocket buzzed again for the millionth time today. Assuming it was Jenny again, he looked at the screen and was shocked to see someone he hadn't expected.

"Hello, father."

He could hear a distant sound of loud chatters at the background before a deep voice answered.

"Natsu. I would like for you to come back to the mansion for the impromptu party."

"For the hundredth time, I'm not coming to any party you and mother throws."

His father sighed.

"I remember. But this is a welcoming party for your uncle Igneel. He's back from Ca-elum Island."

Natsu stopped walking and let other students behind him took over. On one hand, he didn't want to go back home unless necessary but he hadn't seen his favorite uncle in years. He decided to test the water.

"When's the party?"

"Tonight."

"Tonight?! You can't just spring it on me at the last minute."

The background noises got louder and now, Natsu could hear loud laughter and shrilled giggles.

"Father? Are you still there?"

"Yes. I realize it's last minute but today is the only day your mother could make it. She has this cruise thing tomorrow evening."

He started walking again to his next class and paused when he saw Lucy at the end of the stairs talking to a girl with long black hair. She was laughing freely with her golden head throw back. He smiled as well unconsciously. Only when his father calling his name from the other side reminded him that he was on the phone.

"Natsu? Are you coming or not?"

"Fine. But I'm not staying late."

Lucy saw him standing at the top of the stairs and smiled widely at him with a little wave. Natsu waved back and Lucy mouthed him that she had to go to class now.

"Just show your face for a bit and then, you can do whatever you want. Your brother is coming as well."

Natsu nodded at his blonde friend and with a final smile, she walked away with the other girl.

"Zeref is coming? I thought he was in Bosco?"

"No, he's back in Magnolia for business."

Natsu frowned. His brother didn't tell him about this the last time they spoke which was only a couple of days ago. Although he wasn't very close to his parents, his brother was the only person he could relate to in this family.

"Alright. See you tonight then."

His father ended the call without saying goodbye. Natsu didn't even mind his rude father anymore. All he could think right now was how to survive the night without killing anyone.

When Natsu got to the big mansion, the party seemed to be in full swing. He could hear loud music all the way from the car park and there were people dressed up fancy lingering about at the entrance. The tall tower was lit up everywhere and Natsu pondered how much electricity bill it would cost his parents by the end.

When he got the living room where there were groups of people spread around the room, he found his mother straight away. There was a glass of wine in one of her hand and the other was touching at the label of the coat of a gentleman in front of her. Her long chestnut hair was twisted into an elegant French hairdo and there were tendrils of strategically-placed stray hair framing her beautiful face and her tall lithe body was wrapped in a long moss green dress. Her face looked younger than she actually was but Natsu knew it was from the help of the butt load of Botox injected into her face. She was slurring her words loudly. It's been only a few hours since the party started and his mother was drunk already. Typical.

"Mother."

Her unfocused grey eyes found him and she clapped her hands gleefully, forgetting about the man in front of her and came to him as elegant as she could while drunk and hugged him.

"My dear boy. I'm so glad you came."

Natsu scrunched his nose in disgust at the smell of alcohol that enveloped his mother like she had bathed in a pool of wine and vodka. He patted her back hesitantly.

"Have you seen Zeref or Igneel?"

Clara Dragneel pulled back from her son and snorted delicately.

"Who knows? Must be at the corner talking or acting sully probably."

He guided her to sit on the sofa, which she tried to deny, claiming she needed more drink, and set out to find the man of the hour.

He saw Zeref sitting on the chair, staring into space and a bubbly girl talking his ears off beside him. His brother didn't even seem to realize the company. He was swirling a glass of wine in his hand and it looked untouched.

"Zeref."

His brother looked up and gave him a small smile. He signaled him to join him but he shook his head, looking pointedly at the now pouting girl who was still trying to get his attention.

His brother looked at her and shrugged his shoulder, turning his attention back to his wine glass instead. Natsu shook his head. Zeref didn't like to talk to strangers and disliked it when girls tried to act clingy with him. He could count with one hand the number of girls his brother brought to family events and he never paid any attention to any his date.

Trying to forget his emo brother, he walked to the other side of the room and finally found who he was looking for. A tall, tanned man with flaming red hair was talking animatedly with a group of people who looked as if to be hanging on his every words.

"Always a center of the party, I see."

The man turned around. There was a diagonal scar across his cheek and another on his cheek. His onyx was sparkling mischievously.

"Natsu. Look at you, my boy! You've grown."

The hugely built man pulled into his wide chest and wrapped in a bone-crushing hug. Natsu laughed and returned the gesture. Even a tall, built man like Natsu dwarfed in the arms of his much larger uncle.

"It's been ages, Igneel. How was your dig?"

Igneel gestured with his hands wildly.

"It was incredibly. You won't believe this but we found bits of bones that could belong to a dragon."

Natsu clapped Igneel's shoulder excitedly.

"No way! Are you sure it's not Wyvern's?"

"No. I'm pretty certain."

For the next hour, Natsu listened to Igneel talked about his adventure at the dig site. He loved listening to Igneel since he was little. Igneel was the one who told him nighttime stories and put him to bed whenever he was back at home.

"Natsu. Don't hog the man. There're other people who want to see the famous Igneel."

William Dragneel was a carbon copy of Igneel Dragneel – the same red hair, onyx eyes and tall frame. The only difference was the way they carried themselves. While Igneel was comfortable in his own skin and his large body moved about in a carefree demeanor, William's lithe form was stoic and graceful. The only thing Natsu was passed down from his father was the trademark Dragneel eyes.

"Father."

William looked imposing in a dark suit and his short hair slicked back. On his arm was a pretty girl about Natsu's age in a slinky silver gown. Actually, on the closer inspection, the girl was only a couple years older than Natsu. He remembered the girl was from the Magnolia University and graduated last year. Great, Natsu thought. His father's girl of the week was actually more than half his age. The brunette was clinging on William and purring softly at him.

Revolting. This was the reason why he rarely attend their parties. His mother would get plastered and made a spectacle of herself and his father would parade the flavor of the week around. Then, the next day, his mother would coo at his father at the breakfast table with a new jewelry on full display bought by William as a peace-offering. It was easy to keep his mother happy as long as you're filthy rich.

Natsu got up from the seat.

"Actually, I'm going back home now. This is a school night and I have an early start tomorrow."

William inclined his head gracefully and Natsu gritted his teeth at the detached gesture.

"Goodbye, father. Please tell Zeref I will call him tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Natsu."

He gave Igneel a warm hug and left the house, grateful that this night was officially over.

When he got home, a sight of Lucy and Happy in a tug-of-war with a piece of cloth greeted him.

"What are you doing, Luce?"

Lucy faced him without even letting go one bit. Her face was red from exhaustion and she was biting her lips in concentration.

"Oh hey, Natsu. This stupid cat wouldn't let go my favorite bikini."

She might have slipped off a bit because Happy tugged harder and the white bikini slithered from Lucy's hand and it ran off into Natsu's room.

"Dammit. Now I have to pack another pair."

Natsu leaned against the wall and raised an eyebrow.

"Pack?"

"Oh yeah. Mira said we're all going to beach this weekend. She said she called you but you didn't pick up so, she left a voicemail. Where were you this evening?"

Natsu faltered. Should he tell Lucy about the disastrous evening? He had never told any of his friend about his family nor introduced them because he was mortified of his dysfunctional family. Only Lucy had met Zeref one time.

"Igneel was in town. So, I went to meet him."

Lucy pushed stray hair away from her face and looked up at him curiously.

"The archeologist?"

"Yeah."

Lucy nodded in understanding and padded to kitchen to grab a bottle of water. She threw him one as well and uncapped hers. This was why living with Lucy was a dream. She never asked more than he was willing to share and he knew Lucy could probably relate to the fucked up family since she got one. Lucy was unashamed to talk about her cold, indifferent father and would often say she could understand where Jude was coming from. Lucy couldn't be more forgiving than she should.

Natsu didn't want to dwell on family so, he changed the subject.

"I don't get why you always get excited about beach trips. You don't even swim."

Lucy sent him a glare and took a sip of her water.

"There're many things to do at the beach. Not just swimming."

"Still, you should learn. It's a useful skill."

Lucy put the bottle on the counter and leaned her hip against it.

"Who would be willing to teach at such short notice?"

A lightbulb flicked in Natsu's mind and he beamed.

"I know someone who could."

Lucy pursed her lip and titled her head.

"Who?"

"NO!"

Lucy gripped the steel handrails of stairs tightly until her knuckles turned white. Only half her body was submerged in the water and she was struggling to climb up again, both of her feet on the stairs. A pair of pale arms wrapped around her slim waist stopped her from escaping from the death trap.

"Let of the handrails, love rival!"

"Said the Grimm reaper to the poor soul!"

Natsu was doubling over laughter on the ground and he had to sit down to ease his stomach ache from laughing too much.

Juvia was trying to pull Lucy into the pool. She had promised to Gray that she would try her best teach Lucy how to swim as much as she could by Saturday. However, the stubborn woman wouldn't get into a pool with Juvia. She said and Juvia quoted, she wasn't willing to go to the uncharted zone where Juvia would be at the advantage.

Juvia was absolutely offended, like she would kill love rival at her favorite place. She would rather push love rival off the cliff.

"Doesn't love-rival wanna get into water at beach?"

Lucy just screeched louder.

"That's what inner tubes are for! I wanna get on the safe ground and let my feet touch the floor again."

Juvia attempted to pull Lucy but she was still holding on tightly and trying to struggle within her hold.

"This is the shallow part of the pool. The water only reached love-rival's shoulder."

Lucy stopped wiggling and looked over her shoulder at the blue-haired swimmer. She appeared to be standing and the water was at her chest's level. Lucy narrowed her eyes. For all she knew, Juvia was floating effortlessly in the water and lying to her.

"If love-rival doesn't believe Juvia, then ask Natsu-san."

Natsu finally stopped laughing and dove into the swimming pool like a cannonball, splashing water onto both girls which made the latter yelped in anger. Natsu surfaced again and Lucy could see that it could be possible that the water wasn't that deep.

Step by step, she let go of the handrails and allowed Juvia to pull her in. She was delighted when her feet touched the ground without drowning. She grinned at Juvia and Natsu in triumphant. Juvia looked exasperated while Natsu looked simply amused.

"I did it!"

Natsu laughed and cooed at Lucy like a mother would to her child.

"Yes, you did. Good job!"

Lucy stuck her tongue out in response and bounced up and down on the ball of her heels to see how easily she could move around in the water.

"You were like Happy when I tried to shower him. Do you have a phobia of water?"

Juvia also looked interested in her answer. Lucy moved her arms around under the water and observed the way ripple moved along on the surface as well.

"Not really a phobia. I only had one lesson when I was a kid. One of my mom's bodyguard taught me for a safety reason but she was an extremely strict teacher. At the end of the day, I didn't want to see the pool ever again. Scary Aquarius. She has the same beautiful blue hair as Juvia. Seeing you in the pool kinda brings back those memories."

Natsu chuckled and Juvia just seemed thoughtful. Then after a moment, she broke off from her thought and tried to instruct Lucy again.

"Now, let's start with the basic."

Lucy snapped her face to Juvia, her eyes wide with fear.

"But I got into the water. Let's just stop there for today."

Juvia frowned at her student and Lucy flinched a bit.

"No. Love-rival only has a few days to master the basic. Juvia can't slack off. Juvia promised Gray-sama."

Lucy turned to Natsu and begged him to help her with her eyes. Natsu, eyes glistening with mirth, shook her head and patted her head.

"Nope. Juvia is right. You need to push a bit harder."

Lucy relented towards the end and tried to be an attentive student. Natsu swam around the pool while Juvia was patiently showing Lucy how to float and take a stroke at the same time. By the end of the day, Lucy could float on the water without flapping around like a drowned cat.

Juvia wanted to continue but Lucy's fingers were pruned up and her lips were starting to have a tint of blue. Natsu drove both of them back to their apartment and handed her a steaming hot cup of tea after pushing her to sit. Lucy murmured her thanks and took a few sips of scaling hot tea and calmed down when it warmed up her body slowly.

"Still cold?"

Lucy shook her head and finished her tea faster than she should with a hot beverage.

"There's only a few days left of the swimming lesson. Hang in there."

Lucy looked up from her empty cup at Natsu. His hair was still not dry and he looked younger with his hair down.

"Juvia was a good teacher. I thought she would be horrific since she doesn't like me."

"I'm not surprised. I heard she's actually a very nice person when she's not obsessing over Gray."

Lucy nodded slowly, appearing to be in thought.

"That does make sense."

"Gray does have an ability to drive women crazy."

"Oh shut up. Like you weren't as bad as him. Although most of your girlfriends are already halfway to the looney town before they met you."

"Ha ha."

Natsu mocked his laugh which made Lucy giggled.

"Well, this trip better be worth it. If this turns out be like other trips and didn't make a difference after all this trouble, I will rip your balls off, Natsu."

Natsu slumped on the couch beside and threw his head back, staring at the ceiling.

"We'll see."

A/N: Thank you for reading. Please follow, favorite and review!