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Vulnerable (NaLu one-shot)

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Day 2- Vulnerable

Lucy stared at the ceiling. She stared… and stared, and stared. It all felt too… weird.

It was quiet. Never was it ever quiet in her apartment, especially not in the evening. She could hear everything. The crickets chirping outside, the few lingering drops on the shower faucet dripping into the tub, the wind lightly rattling the window panes, even her own breathing.

Lucy's eye twitched and she flopped over in her bed and onto her side, placing an elbow beneath her head as she stared at the empty and dark kitchen. It felt surreal.

She'd whined and complained about Natsu spending the night in her apartment so many times she'd lost count. She'd kicked him out by force, she'd begged him, she'd found him other places to stay and even called him out on having his own bed, which –after she'd sat down on it. Not that she'd admit she'd taken the time to sit on his bed. No one would ever know about that- was actually more comfortable than her own. But no matter what she did, he'd show up at her window night after night, busting right in while she was in another room and crawling in to sleep under the covers, Happy snoring at his side.

She'd hated it. She'd complained to everyone about it, even going as far as asking for their help in banishing the "Natsu infestation" that seemed to be raging in her household. But he always came back. He was stubborn and hard-headed and absolutely determined to sleep with her every night.

She sometimes wondered if he even realized she'd told him to leave. He'd just laugh and roll over and snore louder and then come back the next night and do it all again. They'd slipped into a very deadly spiral and before she'd known it, it'd become routine.

Not that she liked it.

She thought maybe she should call herself stupid for never thinking of locking the window. She'd actually never done it before, and the night she thought of the ingenious idea she felt like banging her head against the door. How had she never thought of it before?

And so, stealthily and sneakily she'd crept over to her window when the sun was still shining, and locked it. She'd snickered to herself and dusted her hands off, and then she'd waited.

Sure enough the minute the sun dipped beneath the horizon there was a loud thump outside followed by an even louder- BANG!

Lucy had been in the kitchen, wiping off the counter after her dinner and had jumped a mile, squealing loudly and quickly searching for the noise. She'd found it a second later as she saw Natsu's face completely squished against the window, his eyes bulging and a red mark forming on his forehead.

He'd peeled himself off of the glass painfully, whining out a very exaggerated, "Owwwww~."

She'd stared at Natsu as he sat somehow perched on the very small windowsill she had, Happy floating around behind him, as he held a hand to his forehead and whined pitifully to himself. So the locked window had worked.

She quickly threw the rag she was holding into the sink, her eyes still glued to her partner who was now looking the window up and down with a very offended look on his face, as if the window had purposefully hit him. The large red mark on his forehead was swelling and Natsu puffed out his cheeks in annoyance.

Lucy stared. He still hadn't noticed her watching him, nor had he realized that the window was locked.

Natsu placed his hands on the window and pushed. Nothing. He stared at it incredulously for a second before heaving against it harder. It still didn't budge. He heaved and huffed and puffed and pushed, his feet sliding on the windowsill and his face turning red with effort. It didn't give an inch.

Natsu threw his arms up in the air, teetering on the sill but keeping his balance. "What the hell's up with this thing?" he barked at the window, his voice very muffled by the glass in between them.

It was at this point that Lucy began to feel guilty. Maybe it'd been too sudden to just lock him out. His only hope of getting inside was the window or the door, and he'd long since abandoned going through the door due to the fact that she wouldn't open it and let him in. The window was his only option and she'd locked him out. He didn't realize it yet, but when he did… would his feelings be hurt?

Lucy only wanted a night of sleep alone, without the heat flushing her cheeks as she tried to stay completely still next to him, fearful of either waking him or brushing up against him in an inappropriate manner. The warmth he provided was nice, and in all reality sleeping next to him was very comfortable, but she couldn't ever get a really good night's sleep with all the paranoia she had.

She'd shift slightly and her butt would brush up against his hand and she'd squeak in embarrassment, her face turning hot. It was a twin-sized bed after all; it was much too small for two people to sleep in comfortably, unless they were cuddling. That thought made her blush even harder.

Lucy's guilt turned absolutely horrible and she ducked behind her kitchen counter to hide. His feelings would probably be hurt; she didn't want to hurt his feelings. She honest to goodness just wanted a good night's sleep. She sat down on the linoleum, pressing her back against the island counter and obscuring herself from Natsu's view.

He was still raving and ranting at the window, his voice muffled as he called it numerous colorful names. He hadn't seen her and she was grateful. Although, he hadn't realized that it was her who had locked the window either.

His curses silenced a moment later and Lucy's breath caught. Maybe if he thought she wasn't home he wouldn't think she'd done it, and he wouldn't interpret it wrong and think she'd done it because she didn't want to be with him.

"Lucy?" he asked through the window. She bit her lip and kept completely quiet and still. She heard a squeak on the window's glass and guessed he had pressed his face right up to it so he could see inside. She'd been about ready to go to bed and so she only had a very dim light on above the kitchen sink. Although, she sometimes kept that on during the day anyway to hopefully make burglars think there was someone home. Maybe he wouldn't think anything of it.

"Hmmm," he muttered. "Luuucy?" He was silent for a moment, waiting for her answer. "I don't think she's home, Happy," he sighed.

"Aye, but I thought she said she was hitting the hay early tonight," she heard Happy chirp behind her partner.

"Yeah… maybe she changed her mind." She pictured Natsu shrugging and looking back at the blue Exceed. "Maybe she's hanging out with Levy or something. Let's go check the guild."

"Aye sir!"

There was another light thump and then all was quiet. Lucy gave it a few minutes before ever-so-hesitantly turning around and peering over the counter. The window was empty, no sign of Natsu or Happy anywhere aside from the smudge on the window where Natsu's face had hit. It was completely quiet too; a sure sign that Natsu wasn't around.

Lucy sighed to herself and stood. She wasn't sure how to feel. She was a bit relieved, in a way. They'd left and she could get ready for bed in peace, hopefully getting a calm night alone in which she could finally get some much-needed rest. But she also still felt immensely guilty. If Natsu was going to the guild, he wouldn't find her. He'd probably ask around and someone would tell him that they'd seen her go home. He might even search the town, but eventually he'd realize that she was in fact home, and had locked the window to keep him out.

She felt horrible. How could she do that to her partner? How could she do that to Natsu? They were so close.

She'd shaken herself of the thoughts, instead focusing on the image of sleeping the night away without having to worry about whose hand was where and not accidentally playing footsie with him under the sheets. She wanted to do that one day, but not one day soon, especially with Happy snoring away at the bottom of the bed.

She took a long shower, the hot water washing away her worries. She'd eventually deducted that Natsu would probably come back. He'd probably find out she was home and come back and rap on the window and demand that she let him in and explain herself because he was tired and wanted some sleep too, you know. Yeah, that's what he'd say.

She pulled on her pajamas and sleepily exited the bathroom. She expected to see his face in the window, probably looking a bit steamed by now, but instead all she saw was a starry sky. She stared for a moment before shrugging. Maybe he'd caught on and realized she wanted a night alone. Maybe he'd give her one night of peaceful sleeping bliss and then come back. She'd let him in tomorrow. She only wanted one night; plus, she was still feeling incredibly guilty.

She'd wandered to bed, sighing happily and sliding beneath the covers, snuggling in and laying down, closing her eyes and waiting for sleep to take her. And that's where she found herself now.

She'd expected to fall asleep instantly, but instead she was faced with a desolate and dark room, too quiet for its own good and oddly cold. She stared at her fridge, her eyes wandering to every item in the room as she counted them, hoping counting books and pencils would be the same as counting sheep. It wasn't.

It felt weird though, and she couldn't exactly place why.

Without Natsu sleeping beside her, it felt… uncomfortable. Sure, she didn't have to constantly try and hide a blush and try to stay as still as possible, but it felt very stiff and uncomfortable. The sheets felt stiff and the bed felt hard. The darkness seemed cold and the quiet was impenetrable.

She felt… vulnerable.

Without his snoring, his heat, his presence, his arm sometimes flopping onto her, she felt vulnerable. She'd grown used to him and his sleeping habits and without them it just felt cold and desolate. She wanted him there, keeping her safe.

It felt silly to say that. He was keeping her safe in her own apartment where the only thing that could probably hurt her was if she stubbed her own toe on the table, but it was true. There was a certain safety factor in play when he was there. Like she could completely forget about everything else and just relax for a bit, even if she was on high-alert embarrassment wise.

She clenched her jaw, feeling even guiltier. She'd just put Natsu through not only what would soon probably be a mountain-sized forehead bruise, but also a night of looking for her, only ending in disappointment when someone would inevitably tell him she was home and had locked him out. Not only that, but she wanted him back in her bed, in her room, and so it'd all been for nothing.

If she would've gotten that good night's sleep she'd been hoping for, it would have been worth it. But wanting him back and being unable to sleep? It'd been a waste.

She pondered what she should do.

Finally she decided to scrap her original plan of locking the window and go from there. She threw off the covers irritatedly and stalked over to the window. She flipped the latch and slowly pulled open the window. A light and cool breeze fluttered in, whooshing into the curtains as her eyes scanned the town's silhouette for a pink-haired Dragon Slayer.

She stared and searched but came up empty. She bit her lip, chewing on it anxiously and contemplating what to do. She wouldn't be able to sleep. Not now. But then again she wasn't going to go out and find Natsu herself. She sighed, shaking her head and deciding to leave her window open for the night. She might get some bugs but she didn't care. He'd know it was an open invitation. If he came, he came, if he didn't, he didn't.

"I… don't like it without you…," she said softly to herself, her eyes searching the night before violently shaking her head and padding back over to her bed.

She crawled in and shivered to herself. It was very cold without him.

She laid there for what seemed like hours. She counted the seconds, which in turn turned into minutes, and eventually she lost count. It was too quiet, but eventually she felt her eyelids drooping. She willingly welcomed sleep and soon it pulled her under.

She was awoken briefly during the night, still very blurry-eyed as a light thump signaled his arrival again. He hopped inside of her room and she sleepily looked up at him. Natsu looked around her apartment with a slight frown and a very large bruise before shrugging, his feet knocking on the hardwood as he walked over to her bed.

She was still very much asleep, her eyes struggling to stay awake, a very blurry image of him standing over her bed being the last thing she remembered seeing that night, her eyes too heavy to keep open. She felt him climb onto the bed unusually gently, shimmying beneath the covers. All of her insecurities and worries were gone, the cold hard night instead replaced by a warm and soft arm around her, his body heat lulling her into a sense of security.

She slowly drifted back off to sleep then, her mind becoming cloudy. Although, she swore she heard, right before sleep took hold, "I don't like it without you either," whispered in her ear.
~Sleeping alone is awfully cold after having a Dragon Slayer for a space heater every night. Maybe she shouldn't have locked him out, after all.~

Oh goodness. It's late, but at least I'm getting it out on Day 2. I swear I'll write the seven on their correct days. *determined face*
NaLu week just makes me so happy. Day 2 was vulnerable. I'm weirdly having a hard time coming up with ideas for the prompts. Weird. XD
Anyway, I'd love to hear what you thought of it! :D

Read on fanfiction: www.fanfiction.net/s/10500582/…

Other NaLu week 2014 one-shots:
:bulletwhite:Day 1- Gifts
:bulletwhite:Day 2- Vulnerable <--You're here darlin'
:bulletwhite:Day 3- Ribbon
:bulletwhite:Day 4- Promise
:bulletwhite:Day 5- Dare
:bulletwhite:Day 6- Effulgence
:bulletwhite:Day 7- Future


And that beautiful picture up there belongs to the lovely :iconhiromashimaplz:
© 2014 - 2024 Poke-lover88
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