~Lucy's POV~ 

"Y-you have to cancel?" I asked with a solemn tone in my voice. I hitched my phone up closer to my ear as I slouched over in disappointment. 

"Yeah, I-" I heard some rustling behind Natsu's voice. It sounded like the laughter of the other boys in the frat house. "Shut up," Natsu said between a laugh, his voice muffled. "Sorry, yeah I have some homework to catch up on."

My bed springs squeaked as I brought my knee's towards my chest. "It's okay, don't worry about it." I lied, wishing that he would hear my disappointment and bring his homework to me. I could help him, or better, we could just have a study session.

"Well, catch ya around." Natsu said chirpily. I could just imagine his smiling face, beaming with happiness. 

"Bye, I lov-," I was left to the silence of static filling my ears. We'd always said "I love you" at the end of our phone calls. I brought the phone away from my face, shocked, checking to see if he'd actually hung up on me. 

First Natsu canceled our movie night, now he's taking another rain check. I understand that we're both busy with schoolwork, but it was beginning to make me feel unwanted. 

Ever since the incident about a week ago, Natsu had been acting weird. I understood that he wanted time to regain my trust, but he's acting like nothing ever happened. Every time I try and bring it up, he avoids the conversation. 

I fell back against my bed, letting out a breathy sigh. 

"Did Natsu cancel again?" Levy asked, her head popping out from a large textbook. 

"Yea,"I laid my hand on my forehead. "I don't know what's going on with him."

"Maybe he just needs a little time for himself, since, you know." She emphasized the "you" revealing my drunken mistake. 

"He doesn't even want to talk about it; he avoids it every single time." I paused and sat back up, clutching the lamb pillow Natsu had got me for my birthday last summer. "I mean, what I did wasn't too bad, was it?" 

She eyeballed me and set down her text book. The pages ruffled as she closed it shut. "I mean, no boyfriend would want to see their girl comfortably hanging around his roommate. You didn't exactly do anything, but you let things happen." She looked at me, realizing her impact. "I'm sorry to make you feel guilty, but I think Natsu will be fine over some time. You guys just need to rebuild that trust."

"Yea, you're right." I replied, a weird feeling hitting my stomach. Would Natsu and I ever go back to our regular ways? I ran my fingers through my hair as I stared out our tiny window. "I'm gonna go for a walk." It was as if my legs moved themselves.

I began rummaging through my shoes till I found some athletic ones. I slipped them over my heels and headed towards the door. 

"I'll be back." I saw her nod her head, her glasses reflecting off the extremely glossy white pages. The crisp September air instantly hit my face, my nose filling with a leafy scent. The tree's leaves were just starting to turn whimsical colors. 

I peered up at the afternoon sky, the sunlight directly hitting my face. It felt good to be under such a glowing and empowering light. I walked up and down the trail leading to the main hall. The fresh air helped clear my head.

"Uh, Lucy?" A mysterious figure asked from behind. I swiftly pivoted on my heels, secretly hoping Natsu would be behind me. I was unfortunately mistaken.

"Sting?" I questioned, remaining three feet away from him. Things were just awkward between us since the party. Wind danced through our blonde hair, creating a settling silence. 

"How are you?" Sting awkwardly questioned as I was about to open my mouth. 

"I'm okay," I replied timidly. "How about you?" 

"Good, really good. I, uh," he scratched the back of his neck nervously. Natsu did that too when he was nervous. "I just really wanted to apologize for the way I acted the other night." My eyes widened at his unexpected apology. Natsu told me he was on a mission to get all the girls; that he was a player. 

"I,-" I tried to say something, but was stopped by his hand.

"It was completely my fault, don't apologize." He ran his fingers through his silky blonde hair, my eyes suspiciously trained on him. "I was drunk, and just, you know." He let out a sigh, breaking away from my gaze. 

"Natsu told me that you were just playing a game to see how many girls you could bang on the first night." Sting's cheeks instantly turned red, glistening against the brown tree's surrounding us. 

"Uh," he scratched his neck again. "That's not specifically the case. I just get girl crazy when I'm drunk." 

"It's okay, honestly." I waved my hands in front of him, showing him a small smile. "I get really flirtatious, so we're kind of in the same boat." We both started to laugh, a pleasant environment. 

"I wonder why Natsu said that about me? I'll have to beat him up about it later." Sting said as he jokingly cracked his knuckles. I giggled at his quirky comment. 

"Trust me, I wonder too." Why did Natsu have to lie? Maybe he was just jealous...

"I just wanted you to know the real me." He said through a toothy grin. I will admit he was handsome. 

"Well, I'm glad I got to too." 

"So can we try and be friends?" He asked stepping closer to me, extending his hand. 

"Deal," I replied taking it. It felt so different than Natsu's hand. The ridges were different, somewhat more defined and sharp. When our hands broke, a sadness filled inside of me. I longed for compassion; compassion that I wasn't getting.

"I have to get to class, but maybe we could hang out sometime?" He sheepishly asked, eyes darting to the ground. 

"Sure!"I replied, excited to actually branch out a little. Sting nodded, sending me a wink as he walked away. 

Why did this all have to be so weird?

Why am I feeling this way towards someone else?