{Jellal’s POV}

I facepalmed. The other day, I didn’t know why I was grinning like an idiot. Never mind that. At least now, the issue was over. The bad news was it reached 50 million tweets in twitter. Yes, it was that popular. Worldwide.

Today, we had nothing to do. It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning. There was no schedule lined up for us. We could do what we wanted for a few days. There was no offer for our new album yet. We had to wait for a month, I guess. So we’d all be idle for awhile.

Levy yawned, looking up from her book. “Do you guys want a picnic?” she asked suddenly. “It’s getting boring in here, you know?”

“I dunno. I’m not bored. I’m only playing video games all day. It’s not boring. You should try one.” Natsu shrugged, grinning.

Lucy rolled her eyes. Mood swings. “Of course. Yeah, right.” she said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. It was true, though. You’d always see Natsu playing video games every single day. Sometimes, he’ll stay up all night just to finish a level or skip a meal. He’s even holding a game controller right now. He’s addicted. “Let’s go and leave Natsu here.” she added, irritated. Why was she pissed?

“Hey! I didn’t say I wasn’t going!” Natsu protested, pouting. “I want to eat various kinds of food.” Natsu’s eyes glistened at the thought of food. As always. Lucy just ignored him and told us she was going upstairs to change her clothes.

“What about you, Erza, Juvia, Gajeel, Gray, and Jellal?” Levy eyed each one of us. She looked like it was all right if we rejected her. But I know we’d all agree. I mean, we’re all bored here.

“Yeah, whatever.” Juvia replied like she didn’t care about anything in the world. The rest of us agreed, and everything was settled.

Erza came up to me. “I have something to tell you later in the van. Hurry up and change your clothes, okay?” I stared at her, bewildered. What was she going to tell me? Why tell me in the van? And obviously, I was really curious now.

Once we have all settled in the van with Erza beside me, I opened a plastic of a hotdog on stick. I nudged her as a sign that she should tell it to me already, biting onto my food. Great. I was hungry since I skipped breakfast.

Natsu and the others were having the time of their lives, dancing onto the beat of a popular song. I shook my head, turning back to Erza. We were the only ones occupying the back seat.

“Oh, right,” she said, realizing that she should tell me something. She leaned closer to me, taking one last look at the gang and making sure they weren’t going to hear what she was about to say. “Let’s just say that we are going to be with ‘someone else’ once we reach the picnic grounds.” she whispered.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “What? Who?” I whispered back.

“You’ll know when we get there.”

“Is it someone we know?” I pushed.

“Shut up,” she hissed, glaring at me. She was afraid that the others might hear us. “This is a clue. It’s a guy, and he likes Lucy.” Huh? A guy who likes Lucy? I don’t know someone—oh. It’s Natsu. But.... Natsu is here. Maybe it’s someone else. I was about to ask Erza if it’s someone I know, but then I decided to shut up because she might kill me if I kept asking.

Sighing, I closed my eyes. It was nice to get some nap.

-*-*-*-*

“Wake up. We’re here.” I groaned as I felt Erza shake me. I slowly fluttered my eyes open, wiping the already dry saliva that was beside my lips. “Ew, get away from me!” Erza burst out, veraciously disgusted. I laughed as she was the first one who got out of the car.

I also got out of the car after I made myself look presentable in front of everyone. Looking at them, I chuckled. Levy was reading a book and Gajeel laid on the picnic blanket with his eyes closed. Gray was picking at the grass and Juvia sat, mulling about something I don’t know. Natsu was there, eating as many foods as his stomach could handle. There.... was someone missing. Right. Lucy. Where is she? Erza did mention of that ‘someone’ who was going to be here.

I heard a familiar female voice from afar. “Why couldn’t you leave me alone, dang it!” Lucy was shouting, which means she was infuriated. By whom? It’s none other than Loki. So he’s the ‘someone else’. And wait, he likes Lucy?

I glanced at Erza who was looking at Lucy and Loki along with everybody. Natsu, though, then shrugged it off and continued eating. He had nothing to care about. Nothing but the food. He’s such a pig.

“I don’t want to.” was simply Loki’s reply.

Lucy groaned frustratedly and went over to Natsu’s side. Hmm. I smell something fishy about her action. It may be an impossible prediction of mine, but it can come true. “Hey.” Lucy nudged Natsu. Natsu gave her a menacing glare, looking disturbed. Natsu’s frown disappeared as soon as Lucy wrapped her arms around him.

“Is he your boyfriend?” Loki asked disbelievingly. “That pig?” The gang except Natsu almost laughed at Loki’s second question. Even Lucy was trying hard to conceal her laugh. Loki didn’t seem to notice it, for he was scrutinizing Natsu. Natsu, feeling insulted, shot him daggers.

“Excuse me?” Natsu bellowed.

Loki rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you’re not her boyfriend. She wouldn’t have a boyfriend like you: a pig and a fool.” Pig was really laughable, but calling Natsu a fool wasn’t. It insulted Natsu, including us. We were his friends, and it’s our duty to save him from insults. And... uhm, bullies.

“Okay Loki, that’s enough.” Lucy demanded. “You’ve done more than enough. Please, go away.” Loki didn’t flinch. Instead, he froze. This guy. It was obvious that he liked Lucy a lot. And by the way I see it, Natsu knows that Loki held feelings for Lucy. Well, all of us knew already. Lucy didn’t. I felt sympathy for Loki.

Loki sighed. “Lucy, I’m here because I need to tell you something.” Uh-oh. I think I already know where this is going. Is he going to confess? If yes, he’s in big trouble. I hope he won’t continue. I couldn’t find the courage to interject.

Lucy flipped her hair. “Go ahead. Don’t waste our time.” I sweatdropped along with everybody else. It was a freaking confession. It’d be awkward if we were here, listening and watching Lucy laugh at Loki. Or maybe even reject him. I knew that over the years, many had fallen for Lucy’s beauty. But I also knew that none of them had the courage to confess to her. Well, they were lucky they picked that choice. They were far from trouble.

We stared at Loki who was starting to blush and fidget. Lucy crossed her arms, waiting patiently. And it was really silent. Lucy began to feel impatient a moment later as she huffed. “Yeah. I heard you loud and clear.” she mumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“I....” Loki started, but then trailed off. I wanted to get away from here, but I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I was curious, pardon me.

“You what?” Lucy pushed. Loki shivered.

“.. like you.” Lucy stood there, looking agape and dumbfounded. It looked like she really didn’t know what was happening around her. This was a possibility—that she’d be shocked. This was the first time she received a confession. But I never knew that this would be her reaction. I mean, I know that she’d never lau—

“Oh my gosh hahahahahahaha! Are you.. talking to me? Really?” Loki flashed her a perplexed look. Okay, never mind what I said earlier. She laughed.

Loki changed his expression. “I’m talking to you. To you only.” Loki answered. Wow. Too straightforward, dude.

Lucy stopped laughing and became serious. “Stop goofing around.”

“But I’m not goofing around.” Loki. I wish you’ve said yes and ran away.

“Please. I want to continue our picnic already.” Well.. about that. The picnic was.. uhm.. how do I put this.. stopped when Loki arrived. Even Natsu stopped eating now. He was watching Loki get nervous under Lucy’s intimidating stare. But it wasn’t because he was excited to hear a confession. He was insulted. Now, he didn’t look like one. He actually looked like he pitied Loki. He was Lucy’s bestfriend, so he knew what was on her mind.

Levy looked like she was about to faint. She was so ecstatic about this. What’s there to fangirl about? Loki was about to get rejected. Yeah, I know this was something you can call sweet, but it was heart-breaking to know that Loki was going to be rejected.

“I won’t.” Loki stated firmly. “I have to do something before I go.” Gajeel walked away. He found this as nonsense, I presume. He wasn’t a fan of romance along with Gray and Natsu. I didn’t know why they were still here, though.

Lucy, with a creased forehead, protested, “What? But earlier, you told me you had to say something! Now, you have to do something?” I swear, she’s so oblivious. She read books a lot—especially romance—so I wonder: How come she can’t tell that a guy will court her?

Loki took a very deep breath. “I like you and...”

“And so? What am I going to do? Party? Give everyone 100,000 jewels?” she retorted. I wouldn’t court a girl like her if I was Loki. I’d give up. She was impossible to have as a girlfriend.

“Can I court you?” All were silent as Lucy stared at nowhere. I think her brain was processing what Loki had just said. At least she shut up with her sarcastic and irritating replies. Natsu, shaking his head, walked away and continued eating. I could tell that he already knew the outcome of this. Surprising, eh? Natsu was dumb, yet he could predict things too.

“E-Eh?” Lucy managed to mumble. “Come again?”

“Can I court you?” It was louder and clearer now. Gajeel even glimpsed at Loki and shook his head with dismay.

Lucy turned away from us. “Give me time to... uhh... think about what you asked.” Loki’s eyes glimmered. Oops. I think he misunderstood Lucy. What she’s trying to say was “Wait, I’m just gonna try to understand what you said.” But Loki understood it as “I’ll think about it.”

“Thirty seconds?” Loki offered, smiling.

Lucy understood it and the moment Loki grinned, she said: “No.”

___________________________________________________

Lucy is so harsh, don’t you think? Poor Loki...