#i am one mortal being and probably cannot eat two whole cakes before they go bad

[meanderfall]

Drace said raspberry on cake is delicious so I'm getting the raspberry cake

[superfreakerz]

TDDUP 24

"Til Death Do Us Part"

Rated M for smut and heavy themes.

Summary: There are immortals and there are those who reincarnate, but it's best to keep these things hidden. Lucy is attending college and meets Natsu, a boy with pink hair, a devilish smile, and a body that never ages.

Read earlier chapters on FF.net

Chapter 24

Jellal's Birthday

"You should've seen her. She literally woke up, puked her guts out, and started crying," Natsu said, staring up at his ceiling.

Gray let out a low whistle. "Must've been a pretty scary dream."

He sat up, turning towards his roommate. A frown rested on his face as he said, "That's the thing. I'm beginning to wonder if that's all it was."

"What do you mean?"

"When I told her none of it was real, she said that it really was. I didn't really think much about it then, but I'm starting to wonder if she had a nightmare about something real."

"Why don't you just ask?"

"You don't think I've tried? Every time I try to bring it up, she just keeps changing the subject. It's obvious she doesn't wanna talk about it."

"Then just leave it alone,"

Natsu furrowed his brows. "Leave it alone? How can I just leave it alone? She was crying."

"Not everything has to be talked about," Gray said with a shrug. "Look, her mom's anniversary is coming up, right? It was probably just a dream about her mom. I've had plenty of those about my family, and I'm sure you've had them too."

Natsu couldn't argue with that logic. "Well why wouldn't she wanna talk to me about that? We talk to each other all the time about that kinda stuff."

"Maybe she's not ready. Either way, I say you just drop it. It's better than to keep reminding her."

"Fine," Natsu said, laying back down on his bed. It'd been four days since that night, and he couldn't get it out of his head. He'd never seen Lucy so shaken up before, it made a shiver run down his own spine.

Gray raised his arms above his head in a stretch before getting out of bed. "C'mon. We gotta go help with the party or else Erza will literally kill us."

Natsu groaned. "She gets even more violent on Jellal's birthday."

"That's because she always tries to make things perfect and fails every time."

"She really does suck at surprises."

As the two headed towards the lounge in the basement, Natsu noticed everyone running around with sweat dotting their faces as they hung decorations on the wall. Erza must've gotten to them. It was no secret among Fairy Tail that if someone messed up Jellal's birthday or even hung a decoration up crookedly, there would be hell to pay with the demonic redhead. Speak of the devil…

"Natsu, Gray. It is good that you two are finally joining us," Erza said, approaching the two. She shoved streamers into their hands. "You idiots can't possibly mess this up. Hang these from the ceilings. Find me when you are done so I can give you your next task."

Natsu knew better than to talk back on Jellal's birthday.

"Aye, sir!" the two exclaimed, saluting the girl. She gave a satisfied nod before moving on to check on everyone else.

Only after the basement was covered in colorful decorations, a beautiful cake sat on the counter courtesy of Mira, and everyone was gathered in the lounge did Erza officially commence the party. Everyone cheered their congratulations for Jellal.

Birthdays were cause for a huge celebration in Fairy Tail, big enough that they shut down the whole place. Many immortals, like Cana, had forgotten their actual birthdays over the vast years and chose not to celebrate. But after joining Fairy Tail, they were able to pick a new birthday for themselves and celebrate it with a group of people who cared and understood.

In Jellal's case, December 1st was not his real birthday. He had long since forgotten, partly due to his longevity and also due to what happened at the research facility. He and Erza were only fresh immortals back then, only recently discovering their secret. Before they could really understand what was happening, they were dragged to a facility against their will and experimented on for decades by mortals trying to find the secret to immortality. After repeated experiments, they lost track of the years and their brains had suffered damage.

They weren't the only immortals to go through something like that. Many of them had been through their own hardships caused by mortals, particularly Mira. Her story always made Natsu sick to his stomach just listening to it.

Only bad things came from mortals finding out about their secret, which was why they held a prejudice against Lucy at first. She was the first mortal who didn't know of immortality to prove to them that there were good ones out there.

Natsu kept a grin glued to his face, but he couldn't help but miss Lucy. After her nightmare, conversation between the two of them had been a bit tense. He wished she was there celebrating with all of them.

"It is time for gifts!" Erza announced while everyone was eating their cake.

"You guys didn't have to get me anything," Jellal said with a smile. He said that every year, knowing that they were going to go out of their way and get him something anyways.

"Nonsense! Here, open mine first!"

Jellal thanked his wife, accepting the gift. A chuckle slipped past his lips as he noticed the sloppy wrapping of the present. While some would suspect that the redhead would be neat and tidy when wrapping gifts, she was actually quite bad at it. And he loved that small fact about her.

Tearing the paper off, he opened the box underneath to find a worn-out journal. Its corners were folded over and its edges were torn, but it still managed to bring a huge grin to the otherwise stoic boy's face.

"Erza! How did you find this?" he asked, flipping open the book and running his fingers over the brittle pages.

"It was actually a lot of work to get," she answered with a small smile. "For one, they kept it in a museum. I've been planning a way to get it out of there for a year now. Then, I had to do it without being caught. Luckily, I did."

"Wait, you broke into a museum?" Cana asked, blanching at the redhead.

She shrugged. "Yeah. All it took was months of observing, a friend on the inside, tiny movements of their cameras every day so that they wouldn't notice, and then breaking in through a back window and taking it during the night."

"Erza, I don't think you know how truly scary you are sometimes."

Erza gave a smug grin. "Oh, I know."

"What is that thing anyways?" Gajeel asked, moving closer to Jellal to see what it was. "And how could you of all people break into a museum to get it? You're always sittin' on that high horse of yours, talkin' about morals and shit. Now look at ya."

"It's not really robbing if it was yours to begin with."

"This journal was mine," Jellal explained. "It was back in our hometown. I was studying and I wrote down some experiments I did in this journal. This was right before we were taken."

Everyone stared at the ground as Erza balled her hands into tight fists. It wasn't a secret that the facility still haunted her to this day.

"Anyways," Jellal said, trying to move quickly from that topic. "After that, I didn't go back to my old home for years, but apparently someone had raided it and took my journal. Apparently, it was interesting that someone from those days had formulated advanced equations, so they kept it preserved in a museum. I was very shocked to find it one day."

"This is the only thing we could find from the old days," Erza added. "Nostalgic, isn't it?"

"It is. I still cannot believe you got it back for me."

"That was pretty risky of you, Erza," Mira said with a chuckle. "But you'd do anything for Jellal! It's so cute!"

The girl's cheeks burned to match her hair. "A-Anyways, next present!"

The group went around, giving Jellal their presents until there weren't any more. After that, they drank and played games, so caught up in the moment that they didn't feel like outsiders stuck in hiding. In that moment, they were just a group of friends- a family- all of them celebrating a birthday like any normal person would.

"Don't drink too much," Levy said, watching as Gajeel downed an entire mug of booze. "Don't forget we're going to celebrate again later with Lu-chan. She can't know that we were already celebrating without her."

Don't worry, Shrimp. I ain't no lightweight."

"Levy does have a point," Gray said. "Maybe we shouldn't have gotten full off of the cake already. Knowing Lucy, she's probably baking one right now for us."

"She sounds so nice!" Mira gushed. "I wish I could meet her! Why do I have to be in a different cycle from you guys?"

"Yeah, yeah," Cana said, slinging an arm around the other girl's shoulders. "You've got me, Laxus, and his squad in your cycle. Can't beat that setup! After all, I take you to the cool parties that people throw!"

"Yes, and you shrug off your studies," Erza scolded.

"Psh. Oh well."

Natsu crossed his arms with a sour look. "Why can't I 'shrug off my studies' if Cana can?"

"Because you're in her cycle," Gray said with a smirk. "She can't have you making her look bad. Though, you bein' an immortal already makes the rest of us look bad."

Before the two could begin to brawl, Makarove climbed up onto one of the tables to give himself some more height. Even then, he still wasn't tall enough to peer down at everyone, but his air of authority made up for his lack of height.

"My children," he started, gazing at each and every one of them. "I am happy to be able to celebrate another one of your birthdays will all of you. Jellal, happy birthday. I wish you nothing but happiness. I know many of you have forgotten your original birthdays, but it is with Fairy Tail that you are given another! It is with Fairy Tail that you are able to celebrate with your peers! It is with Fairy Tail that you can begin anew! So cheers!"

Everyone lifted their glasses high in the air, the building rumbling as everyone cheered.

Lucy sighed as she threw the cake in the oven, dusting her hands off on her apron. She wasn't much of a baker, but as long as she followed the recipe, she was sure it would turn out decent enough.

The girl glanced around her apartment, making sure everything was ready for the party later. Streamers hung from the ceiling, banners were pinned to the wall, and games were set up on the dining table- games that she bought specifically for the occasion. All that was left was the cake, which would need to bake for roughly twenty minutes, cooled, then frosted. That left her nearly an hour to relax.

Making her way over to her desk, Lucy plopped onto the chair with a sigh. Rubbing her eyes, she stifled a groan. She could feel the heavy bags underneath her eyelids.

Ever since her nightmare, the girl had been having trouble sleeping. Even with Natsu there to hold her, she refused to doze off into sleep, terrified that her dreams would be plagued by her inner demons once again.

"Hopefully some concealer will do the trick."

Hoping to distract herself, Lucy worked on her story until the oven began its incessant beeping, informing her that the cake was finished. Taking it out of the oven, she eyed the clock. The others were supposed to arrive in half an hour.

"I probably don't have time to let the cake cool all the way and frost it before they get here."

Or so she thought.

Lucy slumped on the couch with a huff. It was nearing seven, and they were supposed to arrive at six.

"What's taking them so long?"

Finally, she could hear a key being pushed into the lock of her front door before it swung open to reveal Natsu and the others. It wasn't a surprise that they all showed up together since they all lived in the same place.

Lucy eyed them in annoyance. All of them wore wide grins on their faces as they bustled inside. Were they not aware that they were an hour late?

"Hey, Lucy," Gray greeted.

She ignored him. Eyes landing on Jellal, she forced a grin to her face as she said, "Happy birthday, Jellal."

The boy smiled back at her. "Thank you, Lucy. And thank you for letting us come here to celebrate."

"Don't mention it. I'm surprised that Fairy Tail was closed today. It's not a holiday today, is it?"

Erza cleared her throat. "Perhaps they are taking a training day."

"I guess that makes sense," Lucy replied with a shrug. Searching for Natsu, she found him sitting alone on the couch. She moved to sit by him. "Hey, Natsu. Why are you guys so late?"

Natsu smiled apologetically. "Sorry about that. Erza thought you said to come over at seven."

She arched a brow. "Erza said that? She's not the type to make a mistake like that."

"Well, I guess she did."

Natsu sighed in relief as Lucy shrugged her shoulders in acceptance. In truth, everyone was so caught up in the moment at Fairy Tail, they lost track of time. But he couldn't tell Lucy that. Not only was she not supposed to know about the others, but it would also probably hurt her feelings if she found out they had a party without her.

Lucy stood up from the couch. "Do you guys want any cake? I made some." Her gaze landed on Erza, finding that the redhead was already devouring a piece.

"Ehh, I'm good," Gray said, crossing his arms behind his head. He and everyone else had already filled up back at Fairy Tail. Any more would just make him sick.

Lucy bit back a frown. Nobody was going to have the cake? Well, besides Erza, of course. But what about everyone else? Did they think she was that incapable of baking? Mumbling to herself, she hastily cut herself a slice and sat at the dining table while everyone else chatted around her. First they were late, then they didn't even take a bite of the cake that she slaved to make for them.

Natsu cocked his head to the side, watching as Lucy shoved cake into her mouth. Her brows were slanted, and she wasn't paying attention to anyone. Figuring that she was still upset about her dream, he chose not to comment on it. Taking Gray's advice, he was going to let her handle it on her own.

Lucy heaved a sigh before taking the last bite of her cake. She shouldn't have been so bitter. The day wasn't about her, it was about celebrating Jellal's birthday. Who knows, maybe they just weren't cake people.

Lucy's eyes lit up as she turned to face her friends.

"Should we open presents now?" she asked, clasping her hands together in excitement.

Everyone shared an uneasy glance. They already opened presents back at Fairy Tail.

"Oh, uhh, we don't get each other presents!" Levy lied. She'd always been quick on her feet in times like these. Only this time, it wasn't working.

Lucy narrowed her eyes skeptically. "You guys don't get each other birthday gifts?"

"Nope! Too much of a hassle with such a big group!"

Lucy turned to Erza. "Even you didn't get your husband a gift?"

The other girl shook her head, following along with Levy's lie. "No. Jellal and I don't believe in gift giving."

Lucy's hands went limp at her sides. What did they take her for, some kind of idiot? "Okay. Does anyone want to play some games?"

That was how the rest of the evening transpired. Everyone played games and cheered while Lucy kept a feigned grin plastered to her face.

Once the party ended, the group helped Lucy clean up before saying their goodbyes and heading out the door. Natsu stayed behind as always.

He watched as Lucy marched over to the couch and plopped onto it with a huff. Taking slow, hesitant steps towards her like she was some sort of ticking time bomb, he lowered himself next to her.

"That was fun, right?" he asked, turning to give her a grin.

Lucy glared at him, turning on the TV without saying a word.

And just like that, Natsu knew her sour mood wasn't just because of her dream. She was mad at him.

Grabbing the remote from her hand, he turned it off before giving her a serious look.

"What's wrong, Lucy? Why're you so upset?" he asked.

The girl crossed her arms and replied in a flat tone of voice, "What do you mean? I'm not upset."

"You obviously are, so just tell me already."

"I'm fine."

"If you were fine, you wouldn't be acting like this. Can we just talk about it?"

Lucy whirled an angry gaze onto him. "You guys celebrated without me, didn't you?"

Natsu swallowed thickly. He should've known that she was going to catch onto them. "Lucy, I can explain."

"I knew it! That's why nobody ate the cake or gave presents! Not to mention you guys reeked with booze!"

"Lucy-!"

"No, no! Don't Lucy me! I know exactly what this is about!" Lucy stood up from the couch and planted her hands on her hips, tears pricking her eyes as she continued, "I'm never going to be good enough for your friends, am I? You all share secrets that I'm not good enough to know, you all lie to my face, and now I know you all celebrate without me! Just admit it, Natsu! I'm not good enough for you guys!"

Natsu shot up, his brows furrowed. "That's not it, Lucy! 'Course you're good enough for us!"

"Then why the hell did you guys celebrate without me? Why couldn't you invite me?"

"I-It was with other people!" Natsu answered with a gulp. The truth was at the tip of his tongue. He longed to tell her the truth for so long, now more than ever. But he just couldn't do that to his friends. "You don't know them, so we figured that you wouldn't wanna be there!"

Lucy rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Yeah, right. It's nice to see that you're breaking our no-lying agreement. You think I don't know when you're lying by now?"

"I'm sorry, Lucy, but-!"

"Save it."

"But Lucy-!"

"I don't want to hear it."

Natsu's brows furrowed in annoyance, watching as Lucy turned her back towards him.

"You're kinda a hypocrite, you know that?" he said, the words fumbling out of his mouth before he could even think them over.

Lucy whirled around, giving him an incredulous look. "Excuse me?"

He shrugged. "You're a hypocrite."

"How the hell am I a hypocrite?"

"You aren't the only one who can tell when the other's lying. Do you really believe that you haven't told a single lie since that night?"

"I have not!"

"There it is again!"

Lucy's mouth gaped open like a fish out of water. Okay, so she had lied a few times to keep her reincarnation a secret. But those were necessary lies! And it wasn't like she expected him to know she was lying.

"See? You can't even argue because I'm right," Natsu said, shoving his hands into his pockets. His voice was cold as he continued, "You're being a hypocrite. We both lie for whatever reason; the only difference is I don't get on your back for doing it."

Lucy's fists trembled at his cold disposition. "Well then maybe that's a sign."

"A sign of what?"

"That we shouldn't be together," she answered. Her heart dropped to the floor as Natsu gave a pained expression, his eyes wide and his mouth parted. Her throat felt tight as she fought back tears. "You said it yourself. For some reason, we both keep lying to each other. Maybe that means-"

"Yeah, I got it," Natsu said, cutting her off. "If that's what you want, then fine."

"Natsu-"

"Nah. You're good, Lucy. You don't hafta explain yourself." Removing the necklace from his neck, he grabbed Lucy's hand and placed the spare key into her palm. Without saying another word, he marched towards the door, slamming it shut behind him.

Lucy stood still, tears clouding her vision as she stared at the door. Her mind was a blank slate, unable to process what just happened. But when she did, it was like a switch went off in her mind.

Once the first sob wrangled its way out of her, she was no longer able to contain herself. Her hand tightened around the key he left behind, the cold, ragged edges engraving into her skin.

This time, she couldn't even blame reincarnation for what was happening. She could only blame herself.

Natsu slammed the door to his bedroom before marching over to his bed. He plopped onto it, staring up at the ceiling and ignoring Gray's questioning glances.

"Uhh, everything okay?" his roommate asked.

"Shut up," Natsu replied, his voice hoarse. There was no way in hell he was going to talk about what happened with Gray. He had just managed to stop crying on the way home, and if he talked about it, the dam was sure to break again.

Gray wasn't deterred by his remark. "Did something happen with you and Lucy?" Natsu ignored him, giving him the answer he needed. "What happened?"

"None of your business. Now shut up, Gray. I'm serious."

"No, I won't just shut up. What the hell happened between you and Lucy? We were just having a good time."

"Maybe you did, but she didn't."

"Lucy didn't have fun at the party?"

"Nope. Because she knew that we celebrated without her." Natsu sat up, giving the other boy a blank stare. "Know what that means? It means she was asking me why we celebrated without her. And I couldn't even tell her because of this damn secret we have."

Gray frowned, fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. He wasn't sure what to say. Hell, there probably wasn't anything he could say that would cheer him up. That was one of the many unavoidable problems of dating a mortal, and even though he loved Lucy like a sister, there was no changing the rules that were there to keep them safe. What Natsu did was the right thing, even if it didn't feel like it.

"I'm sorry, man," Gray said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "But I'm sure Lucy will get over it."

"Nah, she won't. She broke up with me."

"Wait, she what!?"

Natsu shrugged.

Gray heaved a sigh. He hated seeing Natsu like this, and he was sure Lucy was hurting just as much.

"You know, Juvia broke up with me once," Gray said, laying back and staring at the ceiling as well.

Natsu's brows rose as he turned to face his roommate. He hadn't heard that story before, which was strange considering all of them lived together. "She did?"

"Yep. Back when we first got together. I was an idiot back then, and I pushed her away too much. Everyone has their breaking point, and I pushed her to that point. She dumped me."

"How did you guys get back together?"

"As I was sitting here, staring up at the ceiling like this, I realized that I didn't want to lose her. I went back to her and apologized. Luckily, she forgave me and since then, I've been doin' my best to make her happy because I don't wanna see the sad look she gave me that night."

Natsu scoffed. "That's different. That was your fault. This wasn't even my fault this time!"

"I'm not saying it is." He faced the other boy. "Look, your relationship with Lucy isn't easy. She's a mortal and you're an immortal, there's bound to be some fights that happen because of it. But in all the time I've known you- and really think about how long that is- I have never seen you as happy as when you're with Lucy. Even if it wasn't your fault, are you really willing to lose her now?"

Natsu's gaze dropped to the floor. "Well why do I hafta be the one to apologize?"

"Well, it's not like she can just come here and do it. Besides, maybe it's not her fault either."

"What do you mean? If it's not my fault, then-"

"Maybe it's neither of your faults," Gray interrupted with a shrug. "It's not like she ever asked to date an immortal with a shit ton of secrets and baggage. And she doesn't even know about it. Without her knowledge, she's dating someone who makes things harder for her without a choice."

"Just tell me what I should do already!"

"Do you wanna be with Lucy?"

Natsu's hands balled into tight fists, his eyes lighting with resolve. "Yeah, I do."

"Then go be with her, idiot."

Without another word, Natsu dashed out the door.

Lucy's eyes fluttered open as a cold gust of wind washed over her. With a groan, she forced herself into a sitting position. Her head pounded after all of her crying, and the bags under her eyes had only gotten worse. Going to get some medicine, she turned, only to find a dark figure standing at her bedside.

A bloodcurdling scream slipped past her lips before a warm hand slapped over her mouth. With wide eyes, she watched as the hooded figure removed their hood to find pink tufts of hair.

"Shh!" Natsu said. He really hoped her neighbors wouldn't call the cops after that. But then again, if they didn't, maybe her apartment wasn't that safe to live in after all.

Lucy pried his hand off her face, panting. He must not have realized that his hand was large enough to cover her nose as well.

"Natsu!" she shouted, turning on the lights. "What are you doing here? I thought you were a murderer!"

"I want my key back," Natsu replied. His eyes bore into hers, his gaze serious.

Warmth crept up to the girl's cheeks. "W-What?"

"My key. I want it back."

"What do you mean?"

"I know I used to climb through the window all the time, but using the door's a lot easier. So, I want my key back." He held his hand out, shaking it with impatience.

Lucy arched a brow. "But you- we- I mean-"

"Lucy. I want my key back."

The edge of his voice sent a shiver down her spine. She took in his features. His eyes were a bit puffy and pink, his hair a disheveled mess.

"I don't understand," Lucy said, her voice just a whisper.

Natsu sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Jeez, Luce. Do I really hafta spell it out for ya?" Taking a step closer, he leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers. His hands slid into hers, giving them a gentle squeeze. "I don't wanna break up."

Lucy's breath hitched in her throat. "R-Really?"

"'Course, weirdo. And I hope you don't wanna break up either."

"I don't!" Lucy exclaimed. "I overreacted earlier. And you're right, I was being a hypocrite. Telling each other the truth might not always be possible like I thought it was. Maybe… Maybe it's okay if we lie to each other sometimes… Right?"

"I don't mind if you don't," Natsu replied, his lips twitching upwards into a small smile.

"Well, as long as we don't lie about important stuff."

"Duh."

Natsu propped his finger underneath Lucy's chin, lifting her head so that he could press his lips against hers in a gentle kiss. Electricity shot through his body at the light touch, her soft lips moving against his. His arms snaked around Lucy's waist, pulling her flushed against him. His hands tangled in her shirt, clutching onto her as if he would lose her again if he let go.

Breaking apart for air, the two stared into each other's hazy eyes.

"Is it weird that we're doing this?" Lucy asked.

Natsu arched a brow. "Weird that we're kissing?"

"No, I mean being together and agreeing that it's okay to lie. Is it really? Don't get me wrong, I don't want to break up, but isn't that what normal people would do?"

Natsu shrugged. "Well you aren't normal. You're a weirdo. So it makes sense."

"I'm serious, Natsu."

"I don't know, okay? I don't know what other people would do in this situation. All I know is that I wanna be with you for the rest of my life, and I don't care what it takes."

A smile etched itself over Lucy's face. "Yeah, you're right. I don't care either. I just want to be with you."

Natsu grinned. "So? My key?"

"Oh, right!" Lucy grabbed the key from the nightstand, handing it back to him. "I believe this is yours."

"Thanks," Natsu replied, putting the necklace on, back in its rightful place. "Your eyes are super puffy, by the way. I can barely even see your eyes."

"Yours are puffy too, jerk!"

"Not as puffy as yours!" He reached out and poked the swollen skin. "I'm really sorry for makin' you cry, Luce. That's not what I wanna do."

Lucy grabbed his hand and gave him a smile. "Don't worry about it. Let's just call it even and forget about this, okay?"

"Sounds good to me!"

Taking her hand, he led her back to the bed. They cozied up under the covers, tangling their limbs into a ball of comfort. Natsu breathed in Lucy's scent while she traced her finger over his chest. With everything resolved between them, they let their eyes droop closed for some much-needed rest. Their secrets were safe, along with their relationship.

If only they knew that secrets always had a way of getting out.